Starting Over Lyrics

"(Just Like) "Starting Over" is a song written and performed by John Lennon for his Double Fantasy album. It was released as a single on 24 October 1980 and reached number one in both the USA and UK two weeks after he was murdered. It is his biggest solo American hit, staying at #1 for five weeks. (When Lennon was shot in New York City on 8 December 1980 the single was at #3 in the US and the following week reached the summit.) In the UK it had peaked at #8 in the charts and had fallen out of the Top 20 before Lennon's death propelled it to #1, making an unprecedented #21 to #1 move. By 6 January 1981 there were 3 Lennon songs in the UK top 5, a feat never achieved before or since. This was the first single released from Double Fantasy, and the first new recording Lennon had released since 1975. It was chosen by Lennon not because it was the best track on the album, but because it was the most appropriate following his five year absence from the recording industry. He referred to it during production as the "Elvis (Elvis Presley) / Orbison (Roy Orbison)" track, as he "tongue in cheek" impersonated their vocal styles. The uplifting bell at the intro of the song serves as the antidote to the morose bell sound which opens Lennon's first solo album, Lennon seeing it as him having come full circle. Although its origins were in unfinished older compositions like "Don’t Be Crazy" and "My Life", it was one of the last songs to be completed in time for the Double Fantasy sessions. “We didn’t hear it until the last day of rehearsal,” producer Jack Douglas said in 2005. Lennon finished the song while on holiday in Bermuda, and recorded it at The Hit Factory in New York City just weeks later. The original title was to be "Starting Over". "(Just Like)" was added at the last minute because a country song of the same title was recently released by Tammy Wynette. While commercial releases of the song (original 45rpm singles, LP's and Compact Discs) run a length of 3 minutes and 54 seconds, promotional 12" vinyl singles originally issued to radio stations feature a longer version, officially running at 4 minutes and 17 seconds. This version extends the coda fadeout, and is highly desired by collectors, as it has not appeared on any CD reissue or compilation. It is listed at #53 on Billboard's All Time Top Songs. The Flaming Lips recorded a version for the benefit album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.