What inspired John Lennon to write the hit “Woman”

After The Beatles came to an end in 1970, John Lennon focused on his solo career and released 7 studio albums until he was tragically murdered at the age of 40 in 1980. His final album was “Double Fantasy” released only a few months before he passed away and one of the most famous tracks was “Woman”.

Written by him, the track had a photo of him and his wife Yoko Ono and was producer by the couple and Jack Douglas. However, the inspiration behind the song wasn’t his wife and the meaning of the track was much more deep than that.

What inspired John Lennon to write the hit “Woman”

In his last interview, conducted by Rolling Stone in 1980, the musician was asked about some tracks of ther record. One of them, of course, was “Woman”. He explained that the inspiration came when he was in Bermuda. Lennon suddenly realized everything that a woman does for people in their lives. He also said that the track was a “grown-up” version of The Beatles track “Girl”, originally released on their 1965 album “Rubber Soul”.

“’Woman’ came about because, one sunny after-noon in Bermuda. It suddenly hit me what women do for us. Not just what my Yoko does for me, although I was thinking in those personal terms. But any truth is universal. What dawned on me was everything I was taking for granted.”

He continued:

“Women really are the other half of the sky, as I whisper at the beginning of the song. It’s a “we” or it ain’t anything. The song reminds me of a Beatles track, though I wasn’t trying to make it sound like a Beatles track. I did it as I did “Girl” many years ago. It just sort of hit me like a flood. It came out like that. ‘Woman’ is the grown-up version of ‘Girl’,” John Lennon said.

In the same interview he curiously revealed that he called Yoko “mother”. He used the former president Ronald Reagan as an example too, since he called his wife “Mommy”.

“For those childless people who find that peculiar, it’s because, in general, when you have a child around the house, you tend to refer to each other that way. Yoko calls me ‘Daddy’. It could be Freudian, but it could also mean that Sean refers to me as ‘Daddy.’ Occasionally I call her ‘Mother,’ because I used to call her ‘Mother Superior’. If you check your Beatles Fab Four fucking records, “Happiness Is a Warm Gun,” John Lennon said.

As a single, “Woman” peaked at the first position on charts in several countries at the time. Besides Lennon who played the acoustic guitar and sang, the track had several other special artists.

Earl Slick and Hugh McCraker recorded lead guitar while Tony Levin played the bass. It also had George Small playing piano, Andy Newmark playing drums and Arthur Jenkins on percussion.