Listen, the Snow Is Falling
"Listen, the Snow Is Falling" | |
---|---|
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) |
Released | 1 December 1971 24 November 1972 (UK) | (US)
Recorded | 30 October 1971, Record Plant East, New York City |
Genre | Pop |
Length | 3:10 |
Label | Apple |
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)."
Music and lyrics
The song begins with sounds of the wind blowing and people walking through the snow.
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."
"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
John Kruth describes this version as evoking "the early
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
- ^ "Yoko Ono & The Plastic Ono Band - Listen, The Snow Is Falling - Single". Apple Music. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9780857121264.
- ^ 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.
- ^ ISBN 0966264959.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-906002-02-2.
- ^ ISBN 9780857124388.
- ^ ISBN 9780275991807.
- ^ ISBN 9781493052363.
- ^ a b c d e f Mason, Stewart. "Listen, the Snow Is Falling". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
- ^ Terrell, Steve (December 16, 2005). "Terrell's Tune-up". The Santa Fe New Mexican. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Wedding Album". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
- ^ a b Raggett, Ned. "This Is Our Music". Allmusic. Retrieved 2021-08-03.
- ^ Ash, Daniel (March 17, 1991). "Selected Cuts". Calgary Herald. p. A14. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Vaziri, Aidin (December 13, 1998). "On Johnson's Intavenshan". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 50. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Moon, Tom (December 2, 1990). "New Recordings". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 14-G. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ Gill, Andy (December 11, 2009). "New Released". The Independent. p. 32. Retrieved 2021-08-05 – via newspapers.com.