Skywriting by Word of Mouth
Skywriting by Word of Mouth, and Other Writings Including the Ballad of John and Yoko, is the third, and last, book written by English musician John Lennon. It was published posthumously in 1986 and included an afterword by Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, whom he married in 1969. Like his other books, it contains miscellaneous writings and cartoons.
The book includes Lennon's autobiography (titled "The Ballad of John and Yoko", also the title of a song), in which he talks about the Beatles' break-up ("I started the band. I disbanded it.") and says that he has no hard feelings against his former bandmates: "Paul, George, and It's Only Ringo. I bear them no ill will." However, he also referred to them as "avant-garde revolutionary thinkers" a statement which could be interpreted as sarcastic in intent and declared "In retrospect, the Beatles were no more an important part of my life than any other (and less than some)."
Lennon mentioned the manuscript in a 1980 Playboy interview: "At one point [during his five-year "retirement" from music]... I wrote about two hundred pages of mad stuff".[1] The manuscript was stolen from the Lennons' apartment in 1982, and later recovered in 1986, when Ono had it published.
Contents
The Ballad of John and Yoko
This part of the book, titled "The Ballad of John and Yoko", is Lennon's only autobiography. It has four parts as detailed below and it is also the name of a song - The Ballad of John and Yoko
- "All We Were Saying Was Give Peace a Chance". (Also the name of a song written by Lennon).
- "We'd All Love to See the Plan". (The title is shared with lines in the Beatles song Revolution).
- "We Fought the Law and the Law Lost"
- "The Mysterious Smell of Roses"
Two Virgins
Written at the time the public learned he was living with Ono as husband and wife
An Alphabet
Writings about John Lennon's alphabet
Skywriting by Word of Mouth
This section of the book has 29 parts, titled as follows;
- Skywriting by Word of Mouth
- Subtitled "Lucy in the Scarf with Diabetics"
- Up Yours
- Puma Eats Coast Guard
- Puma Eats Scapegoat
- Spare Me the Agony of Your Birth Control
- "Demented in Denmark"
- "It Nearly Happened in Rome"
- "A Paradox and a Matching Sweater, Please"
- "The Air Hung Thick Like a Hustler's Prick"
- "A Conspiracy of Silence Speaks Louder Than Words"
- "Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Killer Whale"
- "The Art of Deception Is in the Eye of the Beholder"
- "Be Were Wolf of Limitations," or..."The Spirit of Boogie Be Upon You"
- "A Word in Your Orifice," or..."Bebe Seagull Bites Dust"
- The Incredible Mediocre Rabbits
- Europe on Five Camels a Day
- "Death Is Switching Channels on TV"
- Chapter 23 or 27: In Which a Harvard Graduate Faints at the Sight of Enlightenment
- "Florence de Bortcha Has Nuptials"
- Grueling Bi Centennial Scatters Entrails
- "A Reason for Breathing"
- "Hang This Garlick [sic!] Round Your Neck and You'll Never Marry"
- Experts Dance at Soc Hop Ball
- The Importance of Being Erstwhile
- "Never Cross a Horse with a Loose Woman"
- The Life of Reilly, by Ella Scott Fizgeraldine
- Chapter 41: A Complete Change of Pacemaker
- Never Underestimate the Power of Attorney
References
- ^ Henke, James (September 2003). Lennon Legend: An Illustrated Life of John Lennon. Chronicle Books. ISBN 978-0811835176.
External links
- Skywriting by Word of Mouth at HarperCollins
- v
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- Discography
- Instruments
- Jukebox
- Song list
- Death
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with Yoko Ono |
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- Live Peace in Toronto 1969
- Live Jam
- Live in New York City
Hits |
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Themed |
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Box sets |
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Video |
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- In His Own Write
- A Spaniard in the Works
- Skywriting by Word of Mouth
- Self-Portrait (1969)
- Apotheosis (1970)
- Fly (1970)
- Erection (1971)
- Up Your Legs Forever (1971)
- Live in New York City (1972)
- Imagine (1972)
- The Quarrymen
- The Beatles
- Plastic Ono Band
- David Peel
- The Lower East Side Band
- The Dirty Mac
- May Pang
- Harry Nilsson
- John Sinclair
- Rosaura Lopez
- Chapter 27
- In His Life: The John Lennon Story
- John and Yoko: A Love Story
- The Killing of John Lennon
- Lennon Naked
- Birth of the Beatles
- Nowhere Boy
- Backbeat
- Two of Us
- The Lennon Report
- Yesterday
memorials
- The 30th Annual John Lennon Tribute: Live from the Beacon Theatre, NYC
- "All Those Years Ago"
- Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music
- "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)"
- "Here Today"
- Imagine Peace Tower
- "The Immigrant"
- Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
- John Lennon Art and Design Building
- John Lennon Museum
- John Lennon Park
- John Lennon Peace Monument
- John Lennon Educational Tour Bus
- "The Late Great Johnny Ace"
- Lennon (musical)
- Lennon Bermuda
- Lennon Wall
- "Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)"
- Liverpool John Lennon Airport
- Non-Violence
- Strawberry Fields
- "Roll On John"
- Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon
- Imagine: John Lennon
- soundtrack
- I Met the Walrus
- John (book)
- John & Yoko: Above Us Only Sky
- Lennon Remembers
- LennoNYC
- The Lives of John Lennon
- The Lost Lennon Tapes
- Marx & Lennon: The Parallel Sayings
- Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon
- The Pope Smokes Dope
- Pussy Cats
- The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus
- Roots: John Lennon Sings the Great Rock & Roll Hits
- "That's My Life (My Love and My Home)"
- The U.S. vs. John Lennon
- soundtrack
- Category