SIGNIFICANCE

‘Imagine’ is John Lennon’s timeless ode, imagining “living life in peace.” ‘Grow Old With Me’ is Lennon’s paean to eternal love, imagining a “world without end.”

‘Grow Old With Me’ was critical both to John Lennon’s songwriting trajectory and to him personally. Elsewhere, I’ve described how Lennon was inspired to write ‘Grow Old With Me’ after Yoko Ono played him her song ‘Let Me Count the Ways.’ However, Ono playing this song and Lennon’s response was considerably more important than just musical displays of affection.

Beatle scholar Ken Womack noted the importance of ‘Grow Old With Me’ in terms of Lennon’s musical rebirth and his collaboration with Ono. He wrote, “In terms of the couple's collaboration, things began once and truly to unfold when Yoko shared her new song, 'Let Me Count the Ways.'"[1] That collaboration allowed Double Fantasy and Lennon’s musical comeback to take flight.

Ono described ‘Grow Old With Me’ and ‘Let Me Count the Ways’ as the “backbone” of Double Fantasy. The album was intended as a “conversation” between the couple. That conversation is never more intimate than on these two songs, where the couple profess their love. The song was ultimately pushed to Milk and Honey due to time constraints.

Of growing older, Ono said of Lennon in a 1984 interview, "He was looking forward to it. He was always talking about, won't it be great when we're 80 and don't have to struggle any more, sitting in a rocking chair, getting letters from Sean."[2]

In a 1984 MTV special that aired on June 3rd, Ono noted the vulnerability of ‘Grow Old With Me’’s lyrics. “In this age when, when you write something like, ‘I’m gonna kick your face in’ or something, it sounds more punky and hip,” Ono said. “And [John] knows that too! And instead, he said, 'Grow Old With Me.' For him to do that – for a Liverpool guy who went through all that machoism and all that and knows thoroughly what all the macho guys are going to say about that – to do that was courage.”[3]

In a 2008 concert, Ono also explained the personal significance of ‘Let Me Count the Ways’ and ‘Grow Old With Me’ to Lennon. "John told me that he loves me every day. But I was shy and only said, “Yes, thank you very much,”” she said. “So, he was very happy to hear 'Let Me Count the Ways' and he said, "You finally said I love you.” And he made the answer song 'Grow Old With Me' for me."[4]

Ono included ‘Grow Old With Me’ in her personal Top 10 John Lennon songs in Rolling Stone’s 2010 ‘The Playlist Issue.’ “He was saying it to me, but also to a whole generation: “Let’s grow old together.” After his passing, all I had was a cassette of it. I had it in my handbag. When I went to sleep, I had some bells on my door so if anyone came in, I’d hear it. I didn’t want people to take it from me.”

In the 2010 reissue of Milk and Honey, Ono wrote of Lennon, "the message of 'Grow Old With Me' could be interpreted in many ways to be his final wish."[5]

‘Grow Old with Me’ is at times misattributed as Lennon's "last" or "final" song.[6][7][8]. This is inaccurate.

A handwritten lyric sheet for the song is dated July 5, 1980[9]. Lennon is known to have written other songs after that date, such as ‘Real Love,’ dated July 9, 1980,[10] and ‘Clean Up Time,’ dated July 20[11]. The confusion is likely due to the Milk and Honey liner notes. Ono writes "the version that was left to us was John's last recording."[5]

However, it appears Ono is referring to the version of the song rather than Lennon's final recording. It is well-established that Lennon recorded other songs subsequent to ‘Grow Old With Me’, such as his work on Ono's ‘Walking on Thin Ice.’

‘Grow Old With Me’ has connections to other Lennon solo efforts. ‘Imagine’ is Lennon’s timeless ode to peace, where he calls on listeners to imagine “living life in peace.” ‘Grow Old With Me’ calls out to that song as Lennon’s paean to eternal love, imagining a “world without end.”

The connection between ‘Imagine’ and ‘Grow Old With Me’ does not just exist in their opening piano cadences. Lennon himself saw a connection between the songs. He wrote in his song notes that ‘Grow Old With Me’ should have the “feel” of ‘Imagine.’

Finally, ‘Grow Old With Me’ also offers a lyrical bookend to Lennon’s solo career. As Mark Kemp noted in Paste magazine in 2007, “[Lennon’s] songs, and his lyrics – from “God is a concept by which we measure our pain,” on his first solo album to “God bless our love,” on his last one – form one long narrative.” The first song, ‘God,’ is the sound of Lennon’s anguish. ‘Grow Old With Me,’ Lennon’s last song on the posthumous Milk and Honey, is the sound of a man who has, at long last, finally found peace within himself.

[1] Womack, Kenneth. John Lennon: The Last Days in the Life. Blackstone Publishing. 2020. p.134.

[2] Cooke, Richard. Yoko Ono: We Are Only One. New Musical Express. Rock's Back Pages Library. February 11, 1984.

[3] Ono Video Milk and Honey. DJM Films Inc. Lennon - The 1980 Video Collection. TMOQ Gazette Vol. 22. 2016. Originally aired on MTV June 3, 1984.

[4] Bocaro, Madeline. In Your Mind: The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono. Conceptual Books. 2019. Page 366.

[5] Album liner notes. Milk and Honey. 1984, 2010.

[6] Crumlish, Callum. John Lennon's final song release was blocked by Beatles star. Express. March 27, 2023.

[7] Sicily, Angeline. John Lennon's Last Song Before Death: Why He Didn't Include It on Official Last Album Revealed. Express. April 3, 2023. 

[8] Sicily, Angeline. John Lennon's Last Song Before Death: Why He Didn't Include It on Official Last Album Revealed. Music Times. April 3, 2023.

[9] Grow Old With Me. Art of John Lennon.

[10] Real Love. Art of John Lennon.

[11] Clean Up Time. Art of John Lennon.