Recorded in 1980 during the Double Fantasy sessions, ‘I Don’t Wanna Face It’ was released in 1984 on John Lennon’s posthumous album Milk And Honey.
The song was written in 1977; towards the end of that year Lennon recorded a series of home demos of it, along with several other songs he was working on during his househusband period.
Lennon’s home demos were performed on an acoustic guitar, and sometimes featured a drum machine backing. His vocals on these recordings often featured comedy accents, suggesting he didn’t consider the message to be particularly serious.
Another demo were recorded during Lennon’s holiday in Bermuda in June 1980, at a time when he was considering returning to the public eye. He felt rejuvenated by the trip, and most of his songs had a tangible air of positivity.
‘I Don’t Wanna Face It’, however, harked back to his early solo work. Lines such as “Say you’re looking for some peace and love/Leader of a big old band/You wanna save humanity/But it’s people that you just can’t stand” could have come straight from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band or Imagine, and found Lennon baring a side of his character that he had kept hidden for years.
Lennon considered giving ‘I Don’t Wanna Face It’ to Ringo Starr for his album Can’t Fight Lightning, which was eventually released in 1981 as Stop And Smell The Roses. Although Starr received a copy of the Bermuda demo, in the wake of Lennon’s death he felt unable to record the song.
In 1981 it was reported that Julian Lennon was considering recording ‘I Don’t Wanna Face It’, after his father’s assistant Fred Seaman gave him a copy of the Bermuda tape. Eventually Yoko Ono prevented it from happening, presumably because she was intending to release one of Lennon’s recordings herself.
‘I Don’t Wanna Face It’ was recorded at New York’s Hit Factory studio in August 1980, as one of the first songs attempted during the Double Fantasy sessions. An alternative version was later released on the 1998 box set John Lennon Anthology, as well as the highlights collection Wonsaponatime.
Lennon’s guitar outro in this alternative version was later used for the transition between ‘I’m Losing You’ and Ono’s ‘I’m Moving On’, when they appeared on Double Fantasy.
Well, that’s news. I thought ‘Nobody Told Me….’ was intended for Ringo. I can’t hear Ringo singing this. It’s way out of his range and wouldn’t sound quite right lowering the key. And the lyrics are way too Lennon-oriented. I’ve always appreciated John’s humor-injected lyrics.
I’m glad Ringo did not take this for him. I don’t like his version of Grow old with me.
It sounds a lot like “Coming Up” by Paul McCartney. Not the melody, but the style and arrangement.
If you believe Robert Rosen’s book “Nowhere Man”, which is supposedly his recollection of John’s diaries that were stolen by Fred Seaman and initially given to Rosen to write a book, at least some of “I Don’t Wanna Face It” is inspired directly from “Coming Up”.
Supposedly when John was in Bermuda and trying to find inspiration to write music for a comeback album he would play Coming Up constantly, sometimes singing Paul’s words, other times making up his own. I don’t doubt this song was written in 1977, but it was the first completed demo for the Double Fantasy sessions (not released until Milk and Honey).
Thank you very much. So, it is possible he started writing this song in 77. But he completed it later after listening to Coming up. I mean, this beat is the same, the same arrangement. That was added later.
It is curious also that in the video for Coming Up we see the band name with the word Plastic on it. A reference to Plastic Ono Band? I wonder if there is a kind of message to John on it…and he got it at once. That would be the main reason for him to feel so excited about returning to the studios.
I’ve always thought the same. “Coming up” & “I don’t wanna face it” sounds like a dialogue between the two former beatles.
The Anthology take is sensational. With minimal editing, I think it could have been released on Milk & Honey instead of the take that was used. Underrated song, too. Every bit the equal of Nobody Told Me, which was marketed as the commercial single at the time.
This song sounds like a dialogue… Between John and… Julián?
I heard that song for the first time today on the Beatles Channel. My first thoughts as I listened to the lyrics is that John was talking about Paul, and the lingering bitterness John had toward Paul.
I believe the reason that Julian was prevented from recording a cover was because Fred Seaman (John’s assistant) had stolen the demo tape of John’s, along with a boatload of John’s files, clothes, and other stuff after his death.