Following twenty albums over 50 years, Yoko Ono's Warzone is strikingly different from any record she has made previously, but it is also strikingly different from any album that anyone is making...
 
Yoko revisits and reimagines 13 songs from her past work, spanning 1970 - 2009, the lyrics and messages still pertinent—perhaps even more pertinent—in 2018. "The world is so messed up. Things are very difficult for everybody. It's a warzone that we are living in..." says Ono. "I like to create things in a new way. Every day things change."
 
In "Woman Power" from 1973, Ono took President Richard Nixon to task:
 
You may be the president now
You may still be a man
But you must also be human
So open up and join us in living
 
Two generations later, the lyrics are still applicable for another man in the White House and “Woman Power” is as topical as ever. In her 1971 essay Feminization of Society (reprinted in the Warzone liner notes), Ono wrote: "I am proposing the feminization of society; the use of feminine tendencies as a positive force to change the world."
 
Our recent presidents and many of our world leaders have never served in the military, yet they continually nourish and serve the corporate-infused military industrial complex, keeping the world in a perpetual warfare. The song "Warzone" is a dark and terror-filled album opener.
 
"I lived through the Second World War as a very young girl and a lot of things happened. Horrible... what a terrible time.... But a good experience for me because it made me a strong woman. You had to know what to do quickly. My brother and sister were very young [and we were separated from our parents and] evacuated and hid in an attic in the countryside. We had water from a dirty well, and no food. We were very hungry. It was a very very dangerous time. I had to be wise to survive, for myself and for my brother and sister."
 
Co-producer and musician Thomas Bartlett played in Yoko's band in 2006. The two kept in touch through the years, occasionally rehearsing in her living room. Thomas played piano on "I Love You Earth,” her 2014 duet recording with Antony. This rerecording of her 1986 song fits hand-in-hand with Yoko's anti-fracking activism. The lyrics, ever more salient today, seem to have foreshadowed the concept and tone of Warzone.
 
The recordings and arrangements on Warzone are very stripped down, with a particular emphasis on Yoko's voice and lyrics. Here in this minimalist landscape the content of her message rings clear and unencumbered; sometimes somber warnings, sometimes uplifting encouragement, but her wisdom and fortitude are unflinchingly strong, her power having intensified with time and life experience. She ends the ominous questions of "Now Or Never" (1971) with one of her most famous and inspiring lines: "[a] Dream you dream alone is only a dream, but dream we dream together is reality."
 
In contrast to the 1970 version of "Why", with John Lennon's savage guitar matching Yoko's furious vocal outrage, the new version features fierce animal cries. Says Yoko: "I wanted the animals to be equally present as the musicians. I started the record with Elephant. The Elephant is speaking for all animals. We are killing them to get ivory tusks - that's the kind of people we are.... [For the recording] we used the animal voices as music instruments - it came out beautiful."
 
Warzone further builds the legacy of an artist unparalleled in her unique and singular vision. At 85 years young, Ono is already plotting her next album... It is not too late to change the world. We need Yoko now more than ever.

Warzone is release number 52 on Chimera Music, run by Sean Ono Lennon. Chimera has been reissuing the Yoko Ono back catalog in partnership with Secretly Canadian Records. 4 reissues are scheduled for later in 2018, and the Yoko Ono / John Lennon Wedding Album is scheduled for March 20, 2019.

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Warzone

No, No, No b/w Nobody Sees Me Like You Do

Nobody Sees Me Like You Do

from the album 'Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band'

Vocals: Yoko Ono
Guitar: John Lennon
Bass: Klaus Voormann
Drums: Ringo Starr

Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band is the avant-garde debut album by Yoko Ono, which came after recording three experimental releases with John Lennon and a live album as a member of the Plastic Ono Band. With the exception of one track (recorded with Ornette Coleman), the entire album emerged from one raw and cacophonous freeform session when, improvising throughout, Ono develops and pushes to extremes her characteristic trademark, a strained vocal style derived from Japanese hetai, a vocal technique used in Kabuki performances.

It was recorded simultaneously with her husband's John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band at Ascot Sound Studios and Abbey Road Studios using the same musicians and production team.

Initially on Apple Records, through EMI, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band was released to considerable critical disdain in 1970, at a time when Ono was being widely blamed for the break-up of The Beatles. Notable exceptions were the estimations of Billboard who called it 'visionary' and critic Lester Bangs who supported it in Rolling Stone. More recently, the album has been credited (like those of The Velvet Underground) with having an influence, particularly on musicians, grossly disproportionate to its sales and visibility. Critic David Browne of Entertainment Weekly, has credited the album with "launching a hundred or more female alternative rockers, like Kate Pierson of the B-52s to current thrashers like L7 and Courtney Love of Hole."

Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band - Why

Will you touch me
Will you touch me
When my body's full of fear
Will you reach me 
Will you reach me
When my body's so cold

Nothing short of the of the softest word can reach me now
Nothing but the warmest heart can touch me now

Will you hold me
Will you hold me
When my mind is full of tears
Will you kiss me
Will you kiss me
When my mind is so down

All my life the doors kept closing on me
And nothing in the world can open my heart 
But some kindness

Will you touch me
Will you touch me
When I'm shaking in fear
Will you reach me
Will you reach me
When I'm trembling with tears

All my life the doors kept closing on me
And nothing in the world can open my heart
But your kindness

Composed in 1971, recorded in 1974
©1973 ONO MUSIC


From the album Season of Glass

Yoko Ono: solo & background vocals
Hugh McCracken: guitar
Earl Slick: guitar
George Small: keyboards
Anthony Davillo: keyboards
Tony Levin: bass
Andrew Newmark: drums
David Friedman: vibraphone & percussion
Arthur Jenkins, Jr.: percussion
George 'Young' Opalisky: soprano & alto saxophone
Michael Brecker: tenor saxophone
Ronnie Cuber: baritone saxophone
Howard Johnson: tuba


Yoko Ono - Will You Touch Me

SILVER HORSE

When I come in my dream to a house I've never seen before
I have a tendency to look for the exit door
'Cause I never know it may be that house again
I never know I never know

When I come in my mind to a stream that's running gently
I have a tendency to run like a frightened deer
'Cause I never know it may take me to that ocean again
I never know, I never know

I usually stay away from being carried away
But one day I saw a silver horse
I thought he might take me to that somewhere high
I thought he might take me to that deep blue sky

I came to realize that the horse had no wings
"No wings? Well it wasn't so bad, you know"

I learned to travel the world around
And run on the ground in the springtime
And that's the story of a wandering soul
A story of a dreamer.

<hr />

YO: I was also thinking why I sometimes use the key of C [major] because C is so simplistic, most composers probably avoid it. But I don’t avoid it. Why not? Why do I do that? C is a key of communication, I understand. So I used it in a song I had to communicate. The kind of songs that I wrote in the key of C or rewrote in the key of C, like “Give Peace a Chance” or that sort of thing, it’s all to do with communication, of course. The widest communication you want, so you go back to the simplest key, which is C.

Q: That’s interesting. I’ve noticed that TV commercials are often in C, probably for the same reason. 

YO: Oh, yeah. It’s fascinating. And I think that most writers instinctively go for something simple to communicate.

Q: Your song “Silver Horse” is in C major. 

YO: You know what it was? “Silver Horse” is like a fairy-tale. It’s like a story that you tell your child. It just happened, you know. It’s that kind of nursery rhyme feeling I was trying to give.

Q: I love the spoken part on that song when you say, “I came to realize the horse had no wings,” and then you ask yourself, “No wings?” 

YO: [Laughter] Oh, by the way, John loved that song. Yeah. He kept saying, “Oh, that’s a great song” because he liked the fact that I say, “It wasn’t so bad, you know.” [Laughs]

Interview with Yoko Ono from Singers & Songwriting by Paul Zollo

<hr />

From the album Season of Glass by Yoko Ono

Yoko Ono: solo & background vocals
Hugh McCracken: guitar
Earl Slick: guitar
George Small: keyboards
Anthony Davillo: keyboards
Tony Levin: bass
Andrew Newmark: drums
David Friedman: vibraphone & percussion
Arthur Jenkins, Jr.: percussion
George 'Young' Opalisky: soprano & alto saxophone
Michael Brecker: tenor saxophone
Ronnie Cuber: baritone saxophone
Howard Johnson: tuba

Yoko Ono - Silver Horse

John Lennon & Yoko Ono: vocals
John Lennon; guitar
Klaus Voormann: bass
Hugh McCracken: guitar
Nicky Hopkins: piano, chimes
The Harlem Community Choir: vocals

Produced by John & Yoko & Phil Spector
Recorded at The Record Plant, New York, 28th October 1971
"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and released in 1971 as a single by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir. The song did not chart in the U.S. but reached #4 on the British singles chart (where release was delayed until 1972). Ostensibly a protest song about the Vietnam War, it has become a Christmas standard and has appeared on several Christmas albums.

The lyric is based on a campaign in late 1969 by Lennon and Ono, who rented billboards and posters in eleven major cities around the world that read: "WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from John and Yoko". In 1971, the US was deeply entrenched in the unpopular Vietnam War. The line "War is over, if you want it, war is over, now!", as sung by the background vocals, was taken directly from the billboards.

Vocals: John Lennon, Yoko Ono and the Harlem Community Choir
Guitar and bass guitar: Hugh McCracken, Chris Osborn, Teddy Irwin, Stuart Scharf
Keyboards, chimes and glockenspiel: Nicky Hopkins, Yoko Ono
Drums and sleigh bells: Jim Keltner



John & Yoko, The Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir - Happy Xmas (War Is Over)

WALKING ON THIN ICE
by Yoko Ono
October 18th, 2010
 
Making Double Fantasy was a great joy for John and me. But it was intense as well, since we were trying to finish it for the Christmas release. John knew what I was up against and protected me to the end. If it weren’t for that, the record would not have been a dialogue between a man and a woman. But if the record was not a dialogue between a man and a woman, John would have refused to do the record at all. That’s how it was.

Nobody was unkind to me. But there was a strong feeling that this record should have been just John, and I was an extra thing that they had to put up with. I hear a big “yes!” from you guys who are reading this. So you must understand how people at the time also felt.

Because of that delicate situation, John had to do his own thing and protect me at the same time. Even with his quick, astute observation and total power in the studio, that was not easy. He was trying to protect a proud lioness with a sheep’s heart, without so much as letting her know that’s what he was doing. Now, looking back, I get that as clear as a bell.

By the Double Fantasy sessions, I was pretty used to how you do it in rock. But in a pressured situation, I went back to being my old classical avant-garde self. A guitarist was having a difficult time finding a good solo for one of my songs. It was late at night and I just quickly wrote musical notes on a piece of paper and asked him if he would play that for the solo. Sometime before that, I had been told by someone that he read music. So I thought it was more polite to give him a scribble of musical notations than showing him what I wanted on the piano, in which case the whole group would know what I was doing. He just said, “I can’t play this” to John. John looked at me, looked at the guitarist and left the room, beckoning me to follow him. Outside the control room, he said, “Remember? You should whisper to me!” I should whisper the music line in John’s ear?! But in rock, you don’t criticize the musicians for their solos. You just say, “That was good. But could we have one more, just in case? A bit lighter, possibly … ” Something like that. So I knew I made a faux pas. I just said, “I know, l know,” and let it go. That was that.

Then there was “Yes, I’m Your Angel“! I wanted to do it in 3/4. John said, “Let’s do it rock, 4/4″. So we did it in 4/4. When we finished all the tracks, John said, “So we did it! Anything, Yoko?” I told him that I actually still wanted to do “Angel” in 3/4. “Oh… right! I never should have opened me mouth! So let’s get them back”. The musicians had all packed and left the studio already. Andy, the drummer, had to come back from Bermuda! But we did “Yes, I’m Your Angel” in 3/4. The problem was, the one we did in 4/4 sounded much better. The musicians played both 4/4 and 3/4 versions perfectly. So it was not their fault. Something about doing it in 3/4 was so predictable for this kind of song, it sounded more contrived than the 4/4 version, which surprised us as being more fresh when compared with the 3/4. So we went back to using the 4/4 we did anyway. The musicians were all gracious about it, but I don’t think I won any popularity contest or anything! I thought nothing of that at the time. Artists have the right to aim for perfection. But now I see that John was helping me, without making a thing about it.

One day, in the middle of making Double Fantasy, the engineers told us they needed two hours to fix the board. So we should go out for a while. Take a walk. Great! After being in the dark studio for ages, the outside made us squint. It was like spring! A beautiful, beautiful day. The sky was shining blue. We felt like two kids skipping class. John decided that we would go into Saks Fifth Avenue. He went through a few counters and stopped at the glasses: “We should get one for you.” He picked a pair out – large black wraparound shades – and put them on me. Strangely, he started to look rather serious. “What?” “You should wear these all the time.” I thought that was silly and wanted to laugh, but stopped short. He was gazing. It reminded me of the first time I saw him gazing at my “Painting to Hammer a Nail In” in the Indica gallery. This time he was gazing at me wearing the glasses he picked for me. “Why?” I asked with my eyes. He just took my hand and we walked quickly toward the exit. It was time to go back to the studio. I immediately forgot the incident totally. Later, those were the glasses I wore to face the world. I heard John saying, “Keep your chin up. Never let them know that they got you!” So even after his passing, he was still protecting and helping me.

We were both very verbal people. Once we were on the elevator talking away, and forgot that we didn’t push the button. The elevator was still on the ground floor for the longest time without us noticing. Finally, the door opened and a lady came in and we noticed what we did. We were just chatting away. Why did we have so much to talk about? Maybe because it was just the two of us. We burned the bridge, and we didn’t have anybody else except each other. John didn’t mind that at all. It probably had to do with the fact that he had met and shook hands with so many people in the Beatles’ tour days, not seeing people so much felt fresh.

We were also very silent people, too. We didn’t have to say anything. Just by looking at each other we knew what the other was thinking. The more the world hated us, the more we became fiercely protective of each other. I loved the way he looked toward the end: “Keep your chin up. Don’t let anybody see that they got you!” I always nodded when he said that. But when he was alone, I caught him pondering with a faraway look of a young/old soldier who remembered it all. One day, he even said, “Look, if I ever die, make sure to … ‘” and he gave me precise instructions on what I had to do to the Beatles’ outtakes. “Make sure to do that.” I thought it was remarkable that he was still concerned about his old takes. Artist to artist, I liked that remark at the time.



One night, he was sobbing. “Don’t leave me alone. Don’t die on me.” “But John, I’m older than you, so it’s natural that I go first.” “No, you can’t. You just can’t” But another day he said very calmly, “If you died, I’m going to make a soup out of you, and drink it. We will finally be one body then.” He seemed to have been inspired by that idea, and said it to people who were working for us. “You know, if Yoko died, I’m going to make a soup out of her, and drink it…” They all looked stone-faced, as if he didn’t say anything unusual. John sounded like a little boy when he was saying that. A little boy who thought of a great idea.

The two of us as a couple were not very popular, to put it mildly. Everybody around us seemed to be thinking if it weren’t for John being with me, the Beatles would get back together again. While we were separated, John told me that he had to do an interview to say that the Beatles could get back together. He told me that the record company felt they had no chance to sell his record if he hadn’t done that. So he did an interview and sent a copy to me. When you watch that famous video interview, you see that John was being rather awkward. He tried to be funny – that was always an out. For a guy like John to finally do an interview he didn’t believe in, he must have felt really pressured. I thought if we separated, maybe he will get back to being the popular guy he had once been. That was not the only reason I wanted the separation. I had enough, too, of being hated by everybody in the world. The situation was hell. It was getting dangerous for me. For John, it was affecting the sales of his albums. That meant a big dent in his career. I felt guilty. But John was gung-ho about us being together. So we went back to sit in hell and enjoy it. Hell! What’s hell?
“We’ll be happy wherever we are as long as we are together. Do we care? No, Yoko. We don’t, do we? We’ll be on rocking chairs in Cornwall when we get old, and wait for Sean’s postcards.”

In the Double Fantasy period, he got his creative juices back, and was totally alive writing great songs and recording them. But in the middle of the night, he was having nightmares of us separating again. This time, by death.

I did the artwork for the Double Fantasy cover. I selected a good font for the words. And I used two photos by Shinoyama for the front and back of the LP, except I made them black and white. The original photos were in color. I thought it would reflect the grittiness of the album by making it black and white. I thought it would send the message out that it was a documentary and not fiction. But “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” as John said. When I look at the cover now, I wonder if there was more to the story in making it black and white that was not in my calculation.

The album was finished. We put out the single “(Just Like) Starting Over.” But the single did not go to Number One. I went to John, who was sitting in a comfortable chair reading the papers. “John, I’m sorry. The single only went to Number Eight.” “It won’t move?” “No.” He was thinking for a second, looking at me. Then he said, “It’s all right. We have the family.”

He had grand plans if the single went to Number One. Being English through and through. John had planned to take Sean and I to England on the QE2. He wanted to show Sean to Aunt Mimi, and also say hello to Liverpool. But now we had to chuck that plan altogether.

The last weekend was very quiet. The sky was cloudy in a restful way. And the town seemed as though it was asleep.

Saturday started with John listening to “Walking on Thin Ice”. As John was so focused on it, I went out to the news stand and suddenly thought I should get John some chocolates as a surprise. He loved chocolates, but it was not in our sugarless diet at that point. After the drug binges of the Sixties, John wanted both of us to clean up and be healthy “for Sean’s sake too.” But that Saturday, the last Saturday John would enjoy, I thought of getting him some chocolate and surpri sing him. I don’t know why I thought that. I didn’t like chocolates at all then, so I wasn’t suffering not eating them. I got some and came home. As I came out of the elevator, I was surprised by John opening the door to the apartment before I rang the bell. “How did you know I was coming back just now?” “Oh, I know when you’re back.” He was so happy that I got him the chocolates. I remember how he smiled.

The same day, John wanted all my artwork to be brought upstairs from the basement to the white room. This was not the first time he asked for it, but he asked for it on this weekend again. “It’s ridiculous. We have those great works, and we are leaving them in the basement. I want to enjoy them.” For me, it was boring to have to see my old works every day. As a result, my pieces were piled up in the basement storage covered in dust. In those days, I didn’t particularly care about that. “John, can we do it after we finish the album? We are all so busy now.” “No, we should do it now. You’ll never do it otherwise.” As he said it, there was a touch of sadness in his voice, as if he already knew we would never bring them upstairs. We didn’t.

All day, John did not stop playing “Walking on Thin Ice.” He played it over and over again. We still hadn’t overdubbed the guitar solo, so I thought he was checking what to do with it. But it was unlike him that he took so much time on it. I went to sleep. When I woke up on Sunday morning, he was still playing “Walking all Thin Ice” as he looked over the park. I knew the song was a good song. But I was just thinking of what else should be done musically. Never thought deeper than that at the time. Only just recently, it occured to me that maybe John was aware of the song in a different light.

Walking on thin ice
I’m paying the price
For throwing the dice in the air.

But it goes into the middle eight after the second verse:

I may cry someday,
But the tears will dry whichever way…
And when our hearts return to ashes
It’ll be just a story.

I hadn’t realized that it said “I may cry someday,” not “YOU may cry someday” or “WE may cry someday.”

What was I thinking?! John probably noticed it as he listened to the song that weekend, so intently. Was that what made him keep on listening? Did we know something? John? Me? Death was one thing we didn’t discuss that weekend. But it was around us like a thick fog.

The last Sunday. I’m glad in a way that we didn’t know that it was our last Sunday together, so we could have had a semblance of normalcy. But it turned out that it was not a normal Sunday at all. Something was starting to happen, like the dead silence before a tsunami. The air was gelling tenser and tenser, denser and denser. Then, I distinctly saw airwaves in the room. It was wiggly lines, like on the heart monitor next to the hospital bed, just before it becomes a flat straight line. “John, are you all right?” I asked through the density. He just nodded and kept listening to “Walking on Thin Ice,” playing it loud. “Walking on thin ice. Walking on thin ice …” “John, John, arrre youuuu alllll riiight?” I heard my voice vibrating. I could not go near John, for some reason. WALKING ON THIN ICE. WALKING ON THIN ICE. WALKING ON THIN ICE. I realized that both of us were in a strange dimension in a weird time zone, as if we were in a dream. Then it all stopped. I went into a long and shallow sleep, with John over me, kissing me tenderly.



Monday. The very last day of John’s life, we woke up to a shiny blue sky spreading over Central Park. The day had an air of bright eyes and bushy tails. John and I remembered that we had a full schedule. Annie Leibovitz’s photo session, RKO radio show, and studio work from 6 p.m. John liked being prompt. John was English, I was Japanese. The result was both of us possessed extreme austerity and hilarity back to back. The sky was turning gray in the afternoon. And John kept talking to the RKO radio guy, cramming in a lot of things. We nearly became late for the studio. I rushed into the car and saw John still signing an autograph for a guy in front of the Dakota. “John, we’ll be late!” I remember being a bit irritable. “Why one more autograph?” I thought. John said something like, “OK,” and rushed into the car, sat next to me and held my hand as usuaL The car drove off.

I know I speak of his hands a lot. I loved his hands. He used to say he had wanted hands like Jean Cocteau – long and slim fingers. But I grew up surrounded by cousins with those aristocratic hands. I loved John’s, clean, strong, working-class hands that grabbed me whenever there was a chance.

The studio work went until late at night. In a room next to the control room, just before we left the studio, John looked at me. I looked at him. His eyes had an intensity of a guy about to tell me something important. “Yes?” I asked. And I will never forget how with a deep, soft voice, as if to carve his words in my mind, he said the most beautiful things to me. “Oh” I said after a while, and looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed.

In my mind, hearing something like that from your man when you were way over 40… well… I was a very lucky woman, I thought. Even now, I see his piercing eyes in my mind. I don’t know why he decided, at that very moment, to say all that as if he wanted me to remember it forever. Did it matter that the whole world hated you if your guy loved you that much? Who cares if you had to live in hell with him? Some couples might be lucky to live in heaven. John and my heaven was in Hell. And we loved it. We would not have wanted it any other way.

Yoko Ono
London, October 18th, 2010

WALKING ON THIN ICE by Yoko Ono was first published in Rolling Stone, December 2010 issue as “John’s Last Days: A Remembrance by Yoko Ono”.

http://imaginepeace.com/archives/13561


WALKING ON THIN ICE

Walking on thin ice,
I’m paying the price
For throwing the dice in the air.
Why must we learn it the hard way
And play the game of life with your heart? 

I gave you my knife,
You gave me my life
Like a gush of wind in my hair.
Why do we forget what’s been said
And play the game of life with our hearts? 

I may cry some day,
But the tears will dry whichever way.
And when our hearts return to ashes,
It’ll be just a story,
It’ll be just a story.

Ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai...

Ooh-ahooh...

"i knew a girl who tried to walk across the lake,
’course it was winter when all this was ice.
That’s a hell of a thing to do, you know.
They say the lake is as big as the ocean.
I wonder if she knew about it? "

Ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai-ai...

Yoko Ono: vocal.
John Lennon: guitar, keyboards
Hugh McCracken: rhythm guitar
Earl Slick: rhythm guitar
Tony Levin: bass
Andrew Newmark: drums
Jack Douglas: percussion

"Walking on Thin Ice" is a New Wave/dance song by Yoko Ono, released in 1981.
She and John Lennon concluded the recording of the song on December 8, 1980.
Lennon had stayed up all night the preceding weekend listening to a preliminary mix of the song, and died holding a final mix of it in his hands.
Lennon's lead guitar work on the track, which he had recorded that day, and praised by many as the most fascinating of his career

Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice

Our land is still whole with wisdom and wealth
It brings with energy beauty and health
Three billion of us dreaming together
It’s Time for Action
Action is PEACE.

All we are saying is GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

Think PEACE, Act PEACE, Spread PEACE
Shed light in darkness
IMAGINE PEACE

All we are saying is GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
All we are saying is GIVE PEACE A CHANCE

ONO.MIX - 30 Track Remix Retrospective
OUT NOW on Mindtrain/Twisted Records via iTunes & Beatport.

http://itunes.apple.com/album/onomix-feat.-yoko-ono/id555045639
http://www.beatport.com/release/onomix/959596

Yoko Ono's ongoing remix series campaign 'ONO' has seen the boundless art-rock visionary opening up her pandora’s box of original material for an eager generation of superlative cutting-edge artists to cleverly reinvent, including: Flaming Lips, Pet Shop Boys, Antony And The Johnsons, Sparks, Basement Jaxx, Junior Boys, Danny Tenaglia, Porcupine Tree, Stonebridge, CSS, Bimbo Jones, The Sleepy Jackson, Peaches, Linus Loves, Cat Power and Oscar winning composer Craig Armstrong.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
To date, the groundbreaking series has spawned:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;• 2 critically-acclaimed remix albums – 'Yes, I’m A Witch' &amp; 'Open Your Box'
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;• 8 x #1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart-topping hits including Move On Fast, Wouldnit’ (I’m A Star), Give Me Something, I’m Not Getting Enough, Give Peace A Chance, No No No, Everyman/Everywoman and the seminal anthem Walking On Thin Ice.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Buy now on iTunes

ONO - Give Peace a Chance (Karsh Kale Voices of the Tribal Massive Mix)

Yoko Ono's ongoing remix series campaign 'ONO' has seen the boundless art-rock visionary opening up her pandora’s box of original material for an eager generation of superlative cutting-edge artists to cleverly reinvent, including: Flaming Lips, Pet Shop Boys, Antony And The Johnsons, Sparks, Basement Jaxx, Junior Boys, Danny Tenaglia, Porcupine Tree, Stonebridge, CSS, Bimbo Jones, The Sleepy Jackson, Peaches, Linus Loves, Cat Power and Oscar winning composer Craig Armstrong.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
To date, the groundbreaking series has spawned:
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;• 2 critically-acclaimed remix albums – 'Yes, I’m A Witch' &amp; 'Open Your Box'
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;• 8 x #1 Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart-topping hits including Move On Fast, Wouldnit’ (I’m A Star), Give Me Something, I’m Not Getting Enough, Give Peace A Chance, No No No, Everyman/Everywoman and the seminal anthem Walking On Thin Ice.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


ONO - Walking on Thin Ice (Pet Shop Boys Extended Mix)

Yang yang holds on to a giant phone,
Yang yangs soft voice goes on and on,
I hate you, I hate you, where did it go wrong? 
Yangyang goes talking to himself on the phone.

Yang yang sends his men pebbles and stones,
Yang yang rips his women down to the bones.
I own you, I own you, so give us a song,
Yangyang goes talking to his world on the phone.

Yang yangs born with a phone cord round his neck,
Yang yang never fails to stick to his kick.
I want you, I want you, youre making me sick.
But yangyang, the chords never long enough
To reach your mommys trick.

Yang yang yang yang yang,
Yang yang yang yang yang,
Yang yang, snap out,
Give up, cut out,
Tune up and join us,
Join the revolution,
Join the revolution.

No kick is good enough for lifetime substitution,
No brick will give you a lifetime consolation.
And whether you dig it or not,
We outnumber you in population.
And leave your private institution,
Get down to real communication,
Leave your scene of destruction
And join us in revolution.

Yang yang yang yang yang,
Yang yang yang yang yang,
Yang yang, wake up,
Give up, cut out,
Come out and join us,
Join the revolution,
Join the revolution.


APPROXIMATELY INFINITE UNIVERSE
Approximately Infinite Universe is a double album by Yoko Ono, released in early 1973. It represents a departure from the experimental avant garde rock of her first two albums towards a more conventional pop/rock sound, while also dabbling in feminist rock. It peaked at #193 in the United States. The 1997 CD re-issue on Rykodisc added two acoustic demos of songs from this era that were later released on 1981's Season of Glass.


Yoko Ono - Yang Yang

Blueprint for A Sunrise

Wouldnit "swing"

"I Remember Everything"

I'm Not Getting Enough

I Want You To Remember Me "A"

Rising II

Mulberry

"Is This What We Do"

It's Time For Action !

Are You Looking For Me?

I Want You To Remember Me "B"

two, one two three four

Ev'rybody's talking about
Bagism, Madism, Dragism, Shagism, Ragism, Tagism
This-ism, that-ism 
ism ism ism
All we are saying is give peace a chance 
All we are saying is give peace a chance 

its goin' great

Everybody's talkin' bout'ministers,
sinisters, banisters and canisters,
bishops and fishops and rabbis and popeyes,
and byebye, byebyes

all we are saying is give peace a chance,
all we are saying is give peace a chance,


let me tell you now
Ev'rybody's talking about 
Revolution, evolution, masturbation,
flagellation, regulation, integrations,
meditations, United Nations,
Congratulations. 
All we are saying [keep talking] is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance


Oh Let’s stick to it
Ev'rybody's talking about
John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary, Tommy smothers, Bobby Dylan, 
Tommy Cooper, Derek Tayor, Norman Mailer, Allen Ginsberg, Hare Krishna,
Hare Hare Krishna
All we are saying is give peace a chance
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together
Pretty soon you're gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of
Laughing in the face of love
What on earth you tryin' to do
It's up to you, yeah you 

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darlin'
Join the human race
How in the world you gonna see
Laughin' at fools like me
Who in the hell d'you think you are
A super star
Well, right you are 

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Ev'ryone come on 

Instant Karma's gonna get you
Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognize your brothers
Ev'ryone you meet
Why in the world are we here
Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there
When you're ev'rywhere
Come and get your share 

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Come on and on and on on on
Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah 

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
On and on and on on and on 

Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on
Like the moon and the stars and the sun


John Lennon - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric piano
George Harrison - electric guitar, grand piano
Billy Preston - electric piano
Klaus Voormann - bass, electric piano
Alan White - drums, grand piano
Mal Evans - chimes

Produced by Phil Spector
Ritten, Recorded, Remixed 27th Jan 1970


John Lennon, Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band - Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)

Milk And Honey

Don't Be Scared (Remastered 2010)

"NO, NO, NO was written and sung by a woman who was in such a pain that her heart was cracking while she kept her mind clear, so she could survive for herself and for her son. Of course that was me - right after John passed away. When John was still alive, he kept whispering to Sean that he would always be there for Sean and protect him. So when John left, Sean kept saying "a promise is made to be broken",  making it lighter than what it was. He was in pain. Sean loved this song. Each time when I sung "I don't remember what you promeeesed" and elongated the end of it, he used to let his body go down at the same time to the floor. I remember how hard it was for me to go through that period, especially, knowing how Sean was managing to hide his tears."

- Yoko Ono, 29 May 2011


NO, NO, NO

No!!

Let me take my scarf off,
No, no, no, yes, yes, yes.
Don’t help me, (help me)
I can do it and you know it.
Don’t touch me, (touch me)
I don’t like it.

Let me take my blouse off,
No, no, no, yes, yes, yes.
Don’t help me, (help me)
I can do it and you know it.
Don’t touch me, (touch me)
I don’t like it.

You promised me, you promised me,
You promised me, you promised me.
I don’t remember what you promised,
I know you didn’t keep it.

Let me take my pants off,
No, no, no, yes, yes, yes.
Don’t hold me, (hold me)
I don’t want it.
You’re thinking of Rock Hudson when we do it. (let’s do it!)

Let me take my ring off,
No, no, no, yes, yes, yes.
Don’t do it, (do it!)
I can’t do it,
I’m seeing broken glass when we do it. (do it!)

You promised me, you promised me,
You promised me, you promised me.
I don’t remember what we promised,
But I know we didn’t keep it.

You promised me, you promised me,
You promised me, you promised me.
I don’t remember what we promised,
But I miss you!


From the album Season of Glass

Yoko Ono: solo & background vocals 
Hugh McCracken: guitar 
Earl Slick: guitar 
George Small: keyboards 
Anthony Davillo: keyboards 
Tony Levin: bass 
Andrew Newmark: drums 
David Friedman: vibraphone & percussion 
Arthur Jenkins, Jr.: percussion 
George 'Young' Opalisky: soprano & alto saxophone 
Michael Brecker: tenor saxophone 
Ronnie Cuber: baritone saxophone 
Howard Johnson: tuba

Yoko Ono - No, No, No

Approximately Infinite Universe

Song for John

Feeling The Space

Coffin Car

Run, Run, Run

I Have a Woman Inside My Soul

I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window

Midsummer New York

Death of Samantha

Mindtrain

John Lennon’s final album, 1980’s Double Fantasy, is a stirring mixture of songs about love and family as well as plenty of odes to unabashed rock ‘n’ roll. This new version, Double Fantasy Stripped Down, features the original album as well as Lennon’s original mix, which pares down the instrumentation and gives more focus to Lennon’s amazing vocals. 

JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO - DOUBLE FANTASY (STRIPPED DOWN)

1. (Just Like) Starting Over
2. Kiss Kiss Kiss
3. Cleanup Time
4. Give Me Something
5. I'm Losing You 
6. I'm Moving On
7. Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
8. Watching The Wheels
9. Yes, I'm Your Angel
10. Woman
11. Beautiful Boys
12. Dear Yoko
13. Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him
14. Hard Times Are Over 
_____________________________________________________________________

Since 1975, the year his son, Sean was born, John Lennon's life had seen some unaccustomed tranquility, later called the Dakota Days. 

While John had devoted himself to fatherhood and domesticity, he asked Yoko to supervise their business affairs. The exchange of roles which they exercised, gave food for thought to all couples then and now. 

But at the time, the wider world could not comprehend what John was doing. John's withdrawal as a recording artist was unprecedented. 

Suddenly, in 1980, a welcome surprise was heard. John went into the studio with Yoko to make the next album. 

From its inception, then, Double Fantasy was a John and Yoko collaboration, just as their early "avant garde" albums had been. And in its "Heart Play" of alternating viewpoints, it formalised a pattern they'd instinctively adopted on Some Time In New York City. 

Yoko: "We thought Double Fantasy was a fresh and unique idea. John was concerned that another singer/songwriter couple might do an album of this format before us, and thought it was important to do this album right away. But nobody did it, and nobody has done it since then. It was probably not a very easy record to make for any singer/songwriter couple. We were just very lucky that we didn't even have a fight between us while making it. It was a miracle." 

"After the five-year hiatus, for John to come out and do his album, the whole of the music industry was totally, totally excited and they all wanted John's music and was not very happy, that I was there. So, while we were recording, John really had to protect me, in so many ways." 

Double Fantasy was a brave album on John's part, and not only for his loyalty to Yoko. Here was a man whose image was frozen in rock 'n' roll, with all its connotations of youth, rebellion and extremity. Yet his goal this time was to address middle age, and the generation who had grown up with him, and to consider questions - of parenthood, of marriage, of mature relations between the sexes - that pop music scarcely touches. 

The silvery tinkle of bells that introduces '(Just Like) Starting Over' was a deliberate contrast to the ominous tolling that opened John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band ten years earlier. Double Fantasy was to embrace the future with hope, and treat the past with affection. Two heroes of his youth, Elvis Presley and Roy Orbison, are playfully mimicked in John's first track, a life-affirming celebration of the new decade just dawning. Yoko responds with 'Kiss Kiss Kiss', flagrantly sensuous; in the Lennons' mind, "double fantasy" had definite erotic aspects. 

Yet this was not a one-dimensional depiction of bliss. 'Cleanup Time' tells of John's resolve to face the future in better shape, but Yoko's 'Give Me Something' is a stinging challenge to show emotional engagement. 'I'm Losing You' and 'I'm Moving On' plunge still deeper into discord, the former like an echo of John's "Lost Weekend" record Walls And Bridges, the latter a second instance of Yoko as the impatient realist. 

"It's not a happy go lucky album," she affirms. "John's song 'I'm Losing You', even now when I hear that, I get choked up. And 'I'm Moving On' Well ... that was how we were." 

Tensions melt with wonderful suddenness in 'Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)', John's tender song for Sean. Within the narrative flow of this album, it's as if the arrival of a child has wrought a transformational magic. 'Watching The Wheels' is the contented father's defiance of a world so silly it thinks he could possibly have any role more important. And in 'Yes, I'm Your Angel', the parents enjoy a little recuperative time together. We reach the album's pivotal point, perhaps, in John's outstanding 'Woman' - a song that is often compared with his 'Girl' of 15 years earlier, as a measure of the man's personal development. In Yoko's 'Beautiful Boys' we hear a stirring message of encouragement for any man on such a path. 

The remaining songs serve to consolidate this hard-won harmony. John's 'Dear Yoko', propelled by exuberant Buddy Holly gurgles, shines with the same pure joy as Imagine's 'Oh Yoko!'. Her own 'Every Man Has A Woman Who Loves Him' is similarly sweet. And her wistful 'Hard Times Are Over' draws the story to Its graceful conclusion - though its message is subtly qualified, we note, by the cautious addition of "for awhile" ... 

There would, of course, be no further recordings issued in John Lennon's lifetime. It's true there were still some unheard songs, most notably on Double Fantasy's intended sequel Milk And Honey - but they were for another day. On December 9th, 1980, the world awoke to ponder what it had lost. 

Thirty years has passed. And in 2010, the year of Lennon's 70th birthday, Yoko was happy to know that EMI was planning a big tribute to John. She wanted to do something very powerful to enhance the project. 'Stripdown,' she heard, was what musicians were doing now. 

"That was right up John's alley. So I asked Jack Douglas, the co-producer of the original Double Fantasy, to join me to make this edition. Both Jack and I were the closest people to John when we were making the original Double Fantasy. I'm sure John's sudden passing was painful for Jack, too. 

So we hadn't been in touch. But now I'm glad I reached to him this time. We worked well .. and fast, since we were both there for the original recording." 

Stripped Down was re-mixed by Yoko and Jack Douglas in Avatar Studios in New York. 

"I'm so glad I decided to do this." says Yoko. "I never liked the way songs were mixed in the 70s and the 80s, raising the tracks and burying the voice. In this Stripdown, John's voice comes across so powerfully. His voice, his diction, are all very clear in these remixes. His voice is going back to the days of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. His soul was talking to you directly then. Now it is in Stripped Down. In that sense, this is the first Double Fantasy you'll be hearing ... with John's natural voice, and his lyrics clear as a bell. He is brilliant. No other rocker was ever able to come near him in his voice, his passion, and in his articulation. He is a modern day Shakespeare in his diction. And Stripped Down shows this." 

John Lennon's singing voice really deserves to be heard in a pure state. It's Yoko's belief that John's thoughts and feelings - so timeless in their relevance - should sound as immediate as he wished his message to be. Experienced this way, the songs have much the same immediacy as his powerful solo debut John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band. Freed from the legacy of sometimes dated technology, these are now recordings for today, and of course, for the future. 
_____________________________________________________________________

Double Fantasy A Heart Play 
by John Lennon & Yoko Ono 

DISC 1: STRIPPED DOWN 
Produced and Remixed by Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas. 
Remix Engineer: Jay Messina. 
Assistant Engineer: Justin Gerrish 

Mixed at Avatar Studios, New York City. 
Re-Mix preparation at West End Sound NYC. AID transfers done at Sony Battery NYC.
Transfer Engineer: Tim Sturges. 
Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound NYC. 
A&R: Rob Stevens 
_____________________________________________________________________

DISC 2: ORIGINAL ALBUM 
Produced by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas. 
Engineer: Lee DeCarlo. 
Assistant Engineers: Jon Smith, James Ball, Julie Last. 

Guitarists: John Lennon, Earl Slick (Courtesy of Columbia Records), Hugh McCracken. 
Bass Guitar: Tony Levin. 
Keyboards: John Lennon, George Small. 
Drums: Andy Newmark. 
Percussion: Arthur Jenkins, Jr. 
Oberheim: Ed Walsh. 
Voice: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. 
Background Singers: Cas Mijac aka: Michelle Simpson, Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Mason Jacks, Eric Troyer (Courtesy of Chrysalis Records), Benny Cummings Singers - Kings Temple Choir (Courtesy of New Birth Records). 
Drum: Robert Greenidge on 'Beautiful Boy'. 
Hammer Dulcimer: Matthew Cunningham on 'Watching The Wheels'. 
English Concertina: Randy Stein. 
Horn Players: Howard Johnson, Grant Hungetiord, John Parran, Seldon Powell, George 'Young' Opalisky, Roger Rosenberg, David Tofani, Ronald Tooley. 
Musical Associate: Tony Davilio - also Horn Arrangement on 'Yes, I'm Your Angel'. 
Production Assistants: Frederic Seaman, Toshihiro Hamaya 

Recorded and Remixed at Hit Factory, New York. 
Single Remix at Record Plant, New York. 
Mastering at Sterling Sound, New York. Mastered by George Marino 

Art Direction: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. 
Artwork: Christopher Wharf/Art Hotel 

All tracks © Lenono Music except 2, 4, 6,9,11, 13,14©Ono Music 
_____________________________________________________________________

Remaster Project Production Producer: Yoko Ono. 

Remastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, 2010. 
Art direction by Yoko Ono. 
New 2010 front & back cover drawings by Sean Lennon (based on photography by Kishin Shinoyama). 
Design by Peacock. 
Artwork Co-ordinator: Karla Merrifield. 
Photo research: Xilonen Oreshnick 

'Peace Brother' drawing by John Lennon 

Sleeve notes by Paul Du Noyer. 
Additional Photography: Bob Gruen, Nishi F. Saimaru, Kishin Shinoyama, David Spindel, Allan Tannenbaum 

Gatefold images: John and Yoko leaving the Dakota, first day of recording - August 4, 1980: Paul Goresh 

John and Yoko on 44th Street, last day of recording - December 6, 1980: © Bob Gruen/www.bobgruen.com 
_____________________________________________________________________

Special thanks to: 

Starting with Jack Douglas, our original Co-producer, I'd like to thank him and the musicians who have been involved in the making of the original Double Fantasy. You were all brilliant and wonderful. I still love each one of you. 

I would like to give a special thanks to David Geffen for giving John and I the freedom to make the album in the way we wanted to. This album would never have been made without your wisdom of allowing us to be us. 

And thank you Sean, after many days of hesitation, you finally did the drawings for the front and back covers of this very special Stripped Down CD for your dad and your mom. All sorts of memory of that time came back to you, you said .. I know how hard it must have been. This is a thank you from me and your dad. 

Finally, John. Thank you for having done the album with me, at the time of such importance for your career. 

I was a very lucky woman. We made a bit of a mess out of our lives, didn't we? I know we never thought that. But we did. Though for you and me, it was grand all the way. 

I love you! Yoko

Yoko Ono - Yes, I'm Your Angel (2010 Stripped Down Remix)


I have a woman inside my soul, Her eyes sombre and sad.
She waves her hand to try to reach me, But I can’t hear what she says.
I wish I knew what she says
I wish I knew what she wants
I wish I knew what she says to me
I wish I knew what she means to me.

I see an asphalt road inside my soul, It’s pale even in a warm summer’s day.
It stretches into the mist and calls me, But I don’t know what it takes.
I wish I knew what it takes
I wish I knew what it gives
I wish I knew what it says to me
I wish I knew what it means to me. 

I see a tombstone inside my soul, It’s old and mossy, covered in dead leaves.
It stands with an engraving on it surface, But I don’t know what it reads.
I wish I knew what it reads
I wish I knew what it says
I wish I knew what it says to me
I wish I knew what it means to me. 

I feel snow covering inside my soul, It’s hard and shining in shades of grey.
No footsteps ever made their marks, And I don’t know when it melts.
I wish I knew when it melts
I wish I knew when it happens
I wish I knew if it happens at all
I wish I knew what it means to me. 

I hear a stream running inside my soul, It’s cold and clear and carries a tune.
But I don’t know what it sings and tells, I don’t know where it goes.
I wish I knew what it sings
I wish I knew where it goes
I wish I knew what it sings
I wish I knew where it goes
I wish I knew what it sings. 


from the Yoko Ono album "Approximately Infinite Universe"

Yoko Ono: vocals
Stan Bronstein: saxophone, flute, clarinet
Richard Frank Jr: drums, percussion
Daria Price: castanet. 
Gary Van Scyoc: bass, trumpet
Adam Ippolito: piano, organ, harmonium, trumpet
Wayne Gabriel: guitar
Joel Nohnn (John Lennon): guitar and background vocals

Produced by Yoko Ono and John Lennon
Arrangement: Yoko Ono
String orchestration: Ron Frangipane


From the Yoko Ono album 'Approximately Infinite Universe'.

Approximately Infinite Universe is a double album by Yoko Ono, released in early 1973. It represents a departure from the experimental avant-garde rock of her first two albums towards a more conventional pop/rock sound, while also dabbling in feminist rock. 

The 1997 CD re-issue on Rykodisc added two acoustic demos of songs from this era that were later released on 1981's Season of Glass.


Yoko Ono - I Have A Woman Inside My Soul

A LITTLE STORY

- once there was this little boy who asked his father,
Would you tell me that old, old story? 
Once there was this little boy who asked his father,
Would you tell me that old, old story? 
Once there was this little boy and he went to...

- mummy...you should remember this more because d’you know why? 
- why? 
- I learnt it from my daddy, you know.
- umm-umm.
- hah-hah.

- once there was this little boy who asked his father
To tell him that old, old, old, old, old, old story.
Once upon a time there was this little boy who said,
Would you tell me that old, old story? 
Once upon...

- you could see...it can end anywhere!
It can end...it’s just a little story.

------------------------------------

EVEN WHEN YOU'RE FAR AWAY
I wonder why
I could never hate you
Even when you look away,
I always love you in my soul.
It’s just the way we happen to be,
It’s just the way it happens to be.
We don’t know how to love, love without fear.

I tell you why
I could never hate you
Even when you’re far away,
I know you love me in your soul.
It’s just the way we happen to be,
It’s just the way it happens to be.
We don’t know how to love, love without fear.

Part of me will always be with you,
Part of you is growing in me.
It’s just the way we happen to be,
It’s just the way it happens to be.
We don’t know how to love, love without fear.

We don’t know how,
How to tell each other,
There’s nothing we can do.
I saw your soul and you saw mine.
It’s just the way we happen to be,
It’s just the way it happens to be.
We always know inside our soul that love is there.


------------------------------------

From the album Season of Glass by Yoko Ono 

Yoko Ono: solo & background vocals 
Hugh McCracken: guitar 
Earl Slick: guitar 
George Small: keyboards 
Anthony Davillo: keyboards 
Tony Levin: bass 
Andrew Newmark: drums 
David Friedman: vibraphone & percussion 
Arthur Jenkins, Jr.: percussion 
George 'Young' Opalisky: soprano & alto saxophone 
Michael Brecker: tenor saxophone 
Ronnie Cuber: baritone saxophone 
Howard Johnson: tuba

------------------------------------


Yoko Ono Even When You're Far Away / Sean Lennon - A Little Story

This is hell in paradise
We're all asleep or paralyzed
Why are we scared to verbalize
Our multi–color dreams

When will we come to realize
We're all stoned or pacified
While the boogie men organize
Their multi–level schemes

Underqualified for love
Overqualified for life
Sticking in our heads in slime
Thinking we're in our prime

Mesmerized by mythology
Hypnotized by ideology
Antagonized by reality
Vandalized by insanity
Desensitized by fraternity
Sanitized by policy
Jeopardized by lunacy

Penalized by apathy
Living in the world of fantasy
Dancing on hot coal
Waiting for the last call
It's Adam's ball
Eve's call
Eve’s call

Wake up, shake up, check out, work out, speak out, reach out, it's time to, time to, time to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to, to

This is hell in paradise
None of us wish to recognize
But do we want them to materialize 
An endangered species

Exorcise institution
Exercise intuition
Mobilize transition
With inspiration for life


Written by Yoko Ono © Ono Music 1985

Yoko Ono — vocals
Thomas Bartlett — keyboards, electronics 
Nico Muhly — string arrangements
Caleb Burhans, Patti Kilroy, Laura Lutzke, Courtney Orlando — violins 
Animals: Elephant, Baboon, Panther

Hell In Paradise

Preorder CD on Amazon

Warzone, warzone
We are living in a warzone
It’s a warzone
Men flashing their guns and balls
Women looking like barbie dolls
Wake up, wake up
Hold your life
We’re out to chill, out to kill
Warzone, warzone, warzone

Guys stealing zillions gets away
While we knock each other to make our day
Wake up, wake up
Hold your life
Wake up
They’re out to chill, 
They’re out to kill

Warzone, warzone, warzone, warzone
Warzone

Don’t make us laugh 
with your high minded talk
When all you want from us
Is some pillow talk
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, Wake up,
Hold your life

Warzone, Warzone, warzone, warzone, warzone, warzone, warzone
We’re living in a warzone
Help us, help us
If you hear me, if you hear me

Please help us


Written by Yoko Ono © Ono Music 1996

Yoko Ono — vocals
Thomas Bartlett — piano, keyboards, electronics 
Animals: crow, elephant, wolf

Are we gonna keep pushing our children to drugs? 
Are we gonna keep driving them insane? 
Are we gonna keep laying empty words and fists? 
Are we gonna be remembered as the century that failed?

People of America, when will we learn?
 It's now or never, there's no time to lose.

Are we gonna keep sending our youth to war? 
Are we gonna keep scarring rice fields and infants? 
Are we gonna keep watching dead bodies over dinner? 
Are we gonna be known as the century that kills?

People of America, when will we stop?
 It's now or never, there's no time to waste.

Are we gonna keep pretending things are alright?
Are we gonna keep our mouths closed just in case? 
Are we gonna keep putting off until it's too late?
 Are we gonna be known as the century of fear?

People of America, when will we see?
 It's now or never, we've no time to lose.
People of America, when will we see? 
It's now or never, we've no time to lose.

Are we gonna keep digging oil wells and gold?
 Are we gonna keep shooting the ones that tries to change? 
Are we gonna keep thinking it won't happen to us? 
Are we gonna be known as the century that kills?

People of America, please listen to your soul, 
We can change the times to century of hope.

'cause...
a dream you dream alone is only a dream,
 But a dream we dream together is reality.


Written by Yoko Ono © Ono Music 1972
Yoko Ono — vocals
Thomas Bartlett — keyboards, electronics 
Marc Ribot — acoustic guitar 
Kassa Overall — drums

Now or Never

Now Or Never

Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
If we sweep the bottom of the rivers
We’ll find bodies that shouldn’t be there
If we sweep the courts and the offices
We’ll find heads that shouldn’t be there

Cats on the hill
Ready to kill

Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
If we sweep the shelters and asylums
We’ll find women who shouldn’t be there
If we sweep the dark streets and alleys
We’ll find tradesmen who shouldn’t be there
Ding Dong Hell
Pussy in the well
Cats on the hill
Ready to kill

Are you getting ready for
blood and horror
Are you getting ready 
for God and terror
Are you getting ready
For God and Terror

Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here
Where do we go from here


Written by Yoko Ono © Ono Music 1996

Yoko Ono — vocals
Thomas Bartlett — piano, electronics 
Doug Wieselman — bass clarinet 
Erik Friedlander — cello

Where Do We Go From Here

Buy CD on Amazon

Woman Power!
Woman Power!

Two thousand years of male society
Laying fear and tyranny
Seeking grades and money
Clinging to values vain and phony

Woman Power!
Woman Power!

Do you know that one day you lost 
	your way, man
Do you know that some day you have to 
	pay, man
Have you anything to say
except "Make no mistake about it
I'm the president, you hear!"
I wanna make one thing clear
I'm the president, you hear!"


Woman Power!
Woman Power!

You don't hear them singing songs
You don't see them living life
'Cause they've got nothing to say, but
"Make no mistake about it
I'm the president, you hear!"
"I wanna make one thing clear
I'm the president, you hear!"

Woman Power!
Woman Power!

You may be the president now
You may still be a man
But you must also be human
So open up and join us in living

Woman Power!
Woman Power!

In the coming age of feminine society
We'll regain our human dignity
We'll lay some truth and clarity
And bring back nature's beauty

Woman Power!
Woman Power!

Every woman has a song to sing
Every woman has a story to tell
And make no mistake about it, 
	brothers
We women have the power to move the 
	mountains

We’ll teach you how to cook
We’ll teach you how to knit
We’ll teach you how to care for life,
Instead of killing
Make no mistake about it,
	sisters
We women have the power to change the 
	world

Woman Power!
Woman Power!
Woman Power!
Woman Power!

Woman Power!
Woman Power!

East and West must work together


Written by Yoko Ono © Ono Music 1973

Yoko Ono — vocals
Thomas Bartlett — keyboards, bass, electronics
Marc Ribot — electric guitar 
Kassa Overall — drums
Nico Muhly — string arrangement
Caleb Burhans, Patti Kilroy, Laura Lutzke, Courtney Orlando — violins

Woman Power

But CD on Amazon

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people 
living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do 
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people 
living life in peace
ooooh

You may say I’m a dreamer
I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world 
will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people 
sharing all the world
yeahhh

You may say I’m a dreamer
I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world 
will be as one

Written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (c) Lenono Music 1971 

Yoko Ono — vocals
Thomas Bartlett — piano, keyboards, electronics

Imagine

ONO - Kiss Kiss Kiss (Superchumbo Remix)

OUT NOW on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/artist/ono/id219376502

2013 marks a milestone year for ONO. The influential pop culture icon, outspoken activist and enduring avant-garde visionary celebrates her 80th birthday on February 18th. 

Yoko Ono's dynamic, uncompromising and, often controversial career has spanned more than 5 decades and has seen Ono expand from vilified outsider artist, socio-political revolutionary and progenitor of punk and New York's famed Downtown art scene to now include global peace ambassador, philanthropic contributor to the Arts and Billboard Dance chart-topping diva.

In the past decade, the boundless art-rock visionary has opened up her catalog of original works to be cleverly reinvented by a cherry-picked assemblage of dance, electronic and indie/alternative music innovators including PET SHOP BOYS, FLAMING LIPS, BASEMENT JAXX, DANNY TENAGLIA, PENGUIN PRISON, JUAN MACLEAN, FELIX DA HOUSECAT, PEACHES, ANTONY (of ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS), SPARKS, CSS, HANK SHOCKLEE, CAT POWER, JUNIOR BOYS, BIMBO JONES, and THE POLYPHONIC SPREE. To date, the groundbreaking remix series has spawned nine #1 BILLBOARD HOT DANCE CLUB PLAY chart-topping hits including TALKING TO THE UNIVERSE, MOVE ON FAST, WOULDNIT (I’M A STAR), GIVE ME SOMETHING, I’M NOT GETTING ENOUGH, GIVE PEACE A CHANCE, NO NO NO, EVERYMAN / EVERYWOMAN and the definitive anthem WALKING ON THIN ICE, as well as, 2 critically-acclaimed remix albums – YES, I’M A WITCH and OPEN YOUR BOX.

ONO kicks off the 2013 New Year with a fiery new dance single HOLD ME - a searing collaboration co-written and produced by EDM A-lister DAVE AUDÉ (whose discography includes remixes and productions for U2, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Depeche Mode, Coldplay and Pussycat Dolls, and an unprecedented 83 #1 Billboard Club Play Chart hits). The single finds ONO as vibrant and compelling as ever, continuing her streak of dance floor and club chart domination.

While her previous club hits have been star-studded reworkings of her classic material, “HOLD ME” is an entirely new song co-written by ONO and Dave, tailor-made for dance floors, and filled with her vivid lyrical imagery. Combined with Audé’s midas touch for solid, contemporary club anthems, the collaboration is an inspired one that sheds a new light on ONO and adds a strikingly new dimension to her illustrious career. 

Enlisted for remixes are Grammy Award-winning producer RALPHI ROSARIO, premiere Dutch DJ/producer R3HAB, sweltering progressive house collective PAPERCHA$ER, Spain’s IVAN GOMEZ & NACHO CHAPADO, Brazilian electro house/dubstep heavyweights DIRTY LOUD, electro nu-rave legend TOMMIE SUNSHINE and Boston-based wunderkind EMJAE (aka DJ/producer/remixer Matt Johnson of Nightriders and The Night Owl), all of whom deliver adrenalin-fueled bangers that keep the emotion and energy levels high. In addition to his original production, Audé himself also contributes to the collective of vibrant interpretations.

HOLD ME will be available as two separate digital green releases (no materials used or abused) on MIND TRAIN / TWISTED Records issued in February on iTunes and at all fine digital retailers.

Buy from iTunes

ONO featuring Dave Audé - Hold Me (Ralphi Rosario Club Mix)

I think it's better to dance rather than to march through life. love, yoko

Yoko Ono

Pinned to spotlight

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