Instant Karma!
| "Instant Karma!" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Who Has Seen the Wind?" |
"Instant Karma!" was recorded for and is John Lennon's third solo single on Apple Records. The song is one of three Lennon solo songs, along with "Imagine" and "Give Peace a Chance", in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It ranks as one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history, recorded (at London's Abbey Road Studios) the same day it was written, and coming out only ten days later. Lennon remarked to the press, he "wrote it for breakfast, recorded it for lunch, and we're putting it out for dinner." The song was produced by music producer Phil Spector, the first of many solo recordings by The Beatles that Spector worked on through 1970; Lennon may have been trying out Spector for work on the then-dormant Let It Be / Get Back project, which Spector would controversially rework for release that May.
Featuring a version of the ever-changing Plastic Ono Band — Lennon on lead vocal, acoustic guitar and electric piano, Billy Preston on grand piano, Klaus Voorman on bass and electric piano, Alan White on drums, George Harrison on electric guitar, Yoko Ono on backing vocal, Beatles assistant Mal Evans on chimes, grand piano and handclaps, as well as the whole lot of them, Beatles then-manager Allen Klein and a dozen or so late-night pub revellers from Hatchetts Pub on overdubbed backing vocals — it was released on February 6, 1970. Backed by Ono's "Who Has Seen the Wind?" (which Lennon produced), it peaked at number three on the US charts and number five on the UK charts. The pair appeared on Top of the Pops, to perform the song live.
A distinctive feature of the composition: drum fills and turnarounds were played in a different time signature than the rest of the song.
George Harrison would later remark that he was enticed and interested by Lennon's idea of an instant single release, and this partially contributed to Harrison's willingness to participate. Harrison felt that it related in some way to his devotion to the Hindu religion (karma) and he therefore felt Lennon could use the single to promote it.
The single was released with a standard green Apple label, with the words "Play Loud" printed above and beneath the spindle. (The B-side label, by contrast, carried the words "Play Soft.")
Cover versions
- The song has been covered by Toad the Wet Sprocket, Paul Weller, Duran Duran, U2, Beat Crusaders, Tokio Hotel, John Hiatt, and The Adolescents.
Cultural references
- The title for Stephen King's The Shining comes from Lennon's line in this song, "We all shine on..." King has said he was going to call the book The Shiner, before realizing that shiner was a derogatory term for Black people.
- The lyric "send an instant karma to me" is used repeatedly in the "Your Move" part of the Yes song "I've Seen All Good People", written by Jon Anderson for the 1971 album The Yes Album.[1]. (Later in the same song, the background singers sing "All we are saying, is give peace a chance" (from Give Peace a Chance)). Alan White, who performed drums on "Instant Karma!", went on to join Yes the following year.
- In Tom DiCillo's 2006 movie Delirious the protagonist Toby falls in love with a beautiful singer named K'harma Leeds Alison Lohman who is repeatedly called "Instant K'harma" Her character releases a fragrance line also called "Instant K'harma".
- An episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 featured Joel Robinson and his robot companions pitching "Instant Karma", dissolve-in-water tickets that would yield rewards or punishments dependent on the user's karma. (Tom Servo's karma was bad, and he received Michael Bolton concert tickets.) Lennon and the song were directly referenced as the inspiration for the skit.