Listen, the Snow Is Falling

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"Listen, the Snow Is Falling"
UK sleeve
Single by Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band
A-side"Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" (John and Yoko and the Plastic Ono Band with the Harlem Community Choir)
Released1 December 1971 (1971-12-01) (US)
24 November 1972 (1972-11-24) (UK)
Recorded30 October 1971, Record Plant East, New York City
GenrePop
Length3:10
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)Yoko Ono
Producer(s)

"Listen, the Snow Is Falling" is a song written by Yoko Ono and recorded by Ono and the Plastic Ono Band that was first released as the B-side of John Lennon's 1971 single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)." A version of the song was later released on a reissue of Lennon and Ono's Wedding Album and was covered by Galaxie 500.

The song was released on digital and streaming services in 2021 via Secretly Canadian.[1]

Origin

Ono had written and recorded an early version of "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" in November 1968 under the title "Snow Is Falling All the Time" as part of the "Song for John" medley during the sessions for Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions.[2] "Song for John" was not released on the original version of Life with the Lions but was eventually released as a bonus track on a CD reissue of the album.[2]

Ono stated of the song:

The first

pop song — if you can say pop song — I ever wrote was "Listen, the Snow Is Falling." I did that before [Lennon and I] got together. Then, when we got together, I made it into a real pop song. When you see the original, you couldn't pick out why it was a pop song.[3]

Recording

"Listen, the Snow Is Falling" was recorded on October 30, 1971, during the sessions for "Happy Xmas (Was Is Over)."

riffs that McCracken and Voormann were developing.[5] And she criticized some of Hopkins' playing, wanting him to play as if "snow is melting from your fingertips, not that banging."[5][6] But the ultimate recording turned out serene, despite the studio tension.[5]

Music and lyrics

The song begins with sounds of the wind blowing and people walking through the snow.

Beatles' "Sun King," written by Lennon.[7] The song ends with a return to the sounds of wind and people walking in the snow, and Ono finally whispers to "listen!"[4][7]

Music journalist Peter Doggett describes Ono's vocals as "fragile" and "gentile" and describes Lennon's playing as supporting Ono's vocals with "melodic reverb guitar."[2]

Ono often used snow imagery in her songs, including "Snow Piece for Solo" and "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)."[6] More generally she sees natural elements, such as wind and snow, as having the power to connect people ("Who Has Seen the Wind?" is an example where she uses wind rather than snow).[5] According to Beatle biographer John Blaney, "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" "combines her fascination with natural elements such as wind and water, with her desire for global harmony and unity."[5]

Reception

According to Rogan "Yoko's voice has never been this attractive or radio-friendly before or since and it is regrettable that the song failed to secure airplay or sympathetic comment from her former critics."

Allmusic critic Stewart Mason calls it "the most conventionally pretty song Ono ever wrote, with an expressive, albeit limited, melody and simple, graceful words far removed from Ono's howling banshee image."[9] The Santa Fe New Mexican critic Steve Terrell described the song as "bland."[10]

"Listen, the Snow Is Falling" was released as a bonus track the 2007 CD release of the Wedding Album.[2][11] This version incorporates "Yoko's soft, breathy" vocal at the beginning and ending of the song that was removed from the single release in hopes of achieving more radio air play for the song.[8]

Cover versions

Naomi Yang providing the lead vocal.[8][9][12] Mason describes this version as beginning with guitarist Dean Wareham playing "a choppy, echoing electric guitar riff."[9] Then the arrangement builds up slowly with acoustic guitars, sleigh bells and "minimalist drumming from Damon Krukowski.[9] Eventually Wareham breaks into a five minute guitar solo as Yang's bass playing and Kurowski's drumming become more intense.[9]

John Kruth describes this version as evoking "the early

vamp, building into a wailing coda by guitarist Dean Wareham."[8] Allmusic critic Ned Raggett praises this version praising "Yang singing beautifully over, initially, Wareham's echoed guitar strums, and Krukowski's barely-there percussion cascade." Raggett also remarks that this full-band arrangement makes the song "even more intense and gripping" without ruining the "song's spell."[12] Mason claims that Galaxie 500's version "both transforms the song into something recognizably their own and tops the original."[9] Calgary Herald critic Daniel Ash says that it "captures the fragile rock edge of the Velvet Underground without sounding derivative."[13] The San Francisco Examiner critic Aidin Vaziri described the Galaxie 500 version as a "palatable take" on Ono's song.[14] Philadelphia Inquirer critic Tom Moon felt that the ending of this version was "long and indulgent and full of haywire guitar spew."[15]

Thea Gilmore covered "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" on her 2009 album Strange Communion. The Independent critic Andy Gill called this "the album's most magical moment," calling Gilmore's vocal a "hushed murmur over a shimmering synth-pad sparsely illuminated by the occasional chime."[16]

References

  1. ^ "Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band - Listen, The Snow Is Falling - Single". Apple Music. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ Mansfield, Brian (May 13, 1993). "Yoko Ono on the art of John Lennon". The Tennessean. pp. 1D–2D. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ .
  5. ^ .
  6. ^ .
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ .
  9. ^ a b c d e f Mason, Stewart. "Listen, the Snow Is Falling". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  10. ^ Terrell, Steve (December 16, 2005). "Terrell's Tune-up". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Wedding Album". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
  12. ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "This Is Our Music". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
  13. ^ Ash, Daniel (March 17, 1991). "Selected Cuts". Calgary Herald. p. A14. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Vaziri, Aidin (December 13, 1998). "On Johnson's Intavenshan". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 50. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ Moon, Tom (December 2, 1990). "New Recordings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 14-G. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Gill, Andy (December 11, 2009). "New Released". The Independent. p. 32. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.