“The whole album is about my mom”
When John Lennon’s 1973 album, Mind Games, first came out, it didn’t get a lot of love from critics and fans. But now, with Sean Ono Lennon releasing a new box set, he’s asking people to listen again and see the music in a new light, especially the parts about his mom, Yoko Ono.
Lennon worked on Mind Games just before his famous "lost weekend," where he spent 18 months apart from Yoko, moved to LA, and dated May Pang. Some folks thought the album was about their split, but Sean doesn’t agree. He pointed to the cover art, which shows Yoko as a big mountain and John as a tiny figure, and he talked about how much Yoko meant to John’s life and music.
"His entire life and art was infused with his relationship with my mom," Sean shared. "The whole album is about my mom."
Sean said most songs on the album are love songs for Yoko.
"My dad declared to the world that ‘John and Yoko’ were one word. I think he always had his heart set on her," he explained. "He was so in love with her. They had a legendary love and I think that this album is infused with that love. You can hear it."
Fans find it interesting how much John and Yoko’s love story shows up in his music.
Just recently, a Swiss court decided that a watch Yoko gave John for his 40th birthday was hers to keep. The next month, in November 1980, Lennon put out Double Fantasy, with its famous cover showing him kissing Yoko. It was their last album together before he passed away.
