Opening the second half of the Mind Games album, ‘Intuition’ was a rare upbeat song by John Lennon in praise of positivity.

Some of Lennon’s best songs had been written about his doubts and fears, and he had been celebrated for his willingness to reveal his innermost feelings. However, he had rarely sang his own praises in song.

Lennon recorded a home demo of ‘Intuition’ in the summer of 1973. Recorded on piano, at this time he had completed the verses and had the tune for the chorus, but was without a lyrical hook. On the recording he sang the middle section of ‘How?’ and the final verse of ‘God’ in an attempt to find inspiration to finish it. Clearly his intuition wasn’t yet leading him in the right direction.

When recorded for Mind Games it became a jaunty pop song driven by bass guitar and keyboards. However, it’s hard to believe that the man who had written something as creative as ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ or as urgent as ‘Revolution’ could be quite this pedestrian, and ‘Intuition’ marks a low point in Lennon’s creativity.

Lyrically, it was at odds with much of the rest of Mind Games, which was made at a time when Lennon’s marriage to Yoko Ono was hitting the rocks. A phrase like “It’s good to be alive” would be replaced with more soul-searching in the coming months when certainty turned to upheaval.


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