India, India

A home demo recorded in 1980 at the Dakota building in New York City, ‘India, India’ was one of three previously-unreleased songs issued on the John Lennon Signature Box in 2010.

John Lennon recorded two India-themed songs towards the end of his househusband period; the other was ‘The Rishi Kesh Song’. ‘India, India’ adapted a melody Lennon had previously used on two unfinished works, ‘Tennessee’ and ‘Memories’.

The song was inspired by Lennon’s memories of the period The Beatles spent studying Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh in 1968. The lyrics also contain a reference to Yoko Ono, with whom Lennon was becoming infatuated at the time.

India, India, listen to my plea
Sit here at your feet so patiently
I’m waiting by the river but somewhere in my mind
I left my heart in England with the girl I left behind.

‘India, India’ had its première as part of the musical Lennon, which ran briefly in San Franciso and New York City in 2005. The Yoko Ono-sanctioned stage show, about the life of John Lennon, featured his music and lyrics and was directed by Don Scardino. It also featured another previously-unpublished song, ‘I Don’t Want To Lose You’.

The 2010 box set John Lennon Signature Box contained a bonus disc of home recordings. Three of the tracks were previously unreleased: ‘India, India’, ‘One Of The Boys’, and a cover version of Carl Perkins’ song ‘Honey Don’t’.