INSPIRATION

‘Grow Old With Me’ exhibits a combination of lightning bolt inspiration as well as John Lennon’s craftsmanship as a songwriter. Elsewhere, I detailed the thunderclap – Yoko Ono calling and playing ‘Let Me Count the Ways’ while Lennon was in Bermuda. Here I will explore the craftsmanship behind the song.

Throughout John Lennon’s songwriting career, he often morphed one version of a song into another. An example is ‘My Life,’ contained on Lennon Anthology, evolving into ‘(Just Like) Starting Over’ on Double Fantasy.

Lennon also grafted song fragments together. One prominent example from the Beatles is ‘A Day in the Life,’ which added a middle section that Paul McCartney wrote separately. An example from Lennon’s solo career is ‘My Life’ and ‘The Worst Is Over Now’ (the latter is an unreleased demo) being combined into ‘(Just Like) Starting Over.’ There are also examples of Lennon taking the music of a song and writing entirely new lyrics, such as ‘Child of Nature’ turning into ‘Jealous Guy.’

We see this type of evolution in the music of ‘Grow Old With Me.’ The lyrics came in a burst of inspiration in July of 1980. The music, meanwhile, evolved over a period of time.

The earliest musical roots to ‘Grow Old With Me’ trace back to the mid-1970s when Lennon recorded a demo for a song called ‘Tennessee.’ Elliot Mintz, Lennon confidant and host to the radio show The Lost Lennon Tapes (TLLT), said of ‘Tennessee,’ “John was inspired to write this one during the mid-‘70s after reading works by legendary playwright Tennessee Williams. I clearly recall John playing ‘Tennessee’ for me during one of my visits to the Dakota back then.”[1]

Lennon did not use any of the music in ‘Tennessee’ for ‘Grow Old With Me.’ However, he would incorporate this music into another song that would.

Lennon subsequently wrote a short piece called ‘Howling At the Moon.’ It is here that the chord changes that would become ‘Grow Old With Me’ can first be heard.[2]

Lennon subsequently incorporated the music for ‘Tennessee’ and ‘Howling at the Moon’ together into a new song, called ‘Memories.’ It is at this point that both the chords and cadence that make up part of ‘Grow Old With Me’ can clearly be heard. Take #1 of ‘Memories-Howling at the Moon’ even includes part of the outro that Lennon used in his final recorded demo of ‘Grow Old With Me.’[3]

In his home demo tapes, we see Lennon crafting songs. Prior to recording his final demo of ‘Grow Old With Me,’ there are examples of Lennon playing an early version of ‘Watching the Wheels’ incorporating the music of ‘Memories.’[4] He subsequently transitions between the two songs.

Ultimately, Lennon experimented with songs until he finished them or put them aside. ‘Grow Old With Me’ is an example where he experimented with the music associated with the song over a long period of time before ultimately finishing the song in one quick burst.

[1] Episode 8: Elton John Thanksgiving Concert. 46 minutes 27 seconds. The Lost Lennon Tapes. February 22, 1988.

[2] Collage 7: Episode 45: Collage 7. 43 minutes 48 seconds. The Lost Lennon Tapes. November 28, 1988.

[3] Collage 7: Episode 45: Collage 7. 47 minutes 3 seconds. The Lost Lennon Tapes. November 28, 1988.

[4] Episode 163: Writing. 0 minuntes 10 seconds. The Lost Lennon Tapes. March 4, 1991.