Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)

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"Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)"
Song by John Lennon
from the album Walls and Bridges
Released26 September 1974 (1974-09-26)
RecordedJuly–August 1974
Length2:55
Label Apple
Songwriter(s) John Lennon
Producer(s) John Lennon
Walls and Bridges track listing
12 tracks
Side one
  1. "Going Down on Love"
  2. "Whatever Gets You thru the Night"
  3. "Old Dirt Road"
  4. "What You Got"
  5. "Bless You"
  6. "Scared"
Side two
  1. "#9 Dream"
  2. "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)"
  3. "Steel and Glass"
  4. "Beef Jerky"
  5. "Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)"
  6. "Ya Ya"

"Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" is a song written by John Lennon that was first released on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges . Elton John contributes harmony vocals to the song.

Contents

Lyrics and music

"Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" was the first song Lennon wrote for Walls and Bridges. [1] While other songs on the album were inspired by Lennon's feelings towards his then estranged wife Yoko Ono, "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" was inspired by his feelings towards his then lover May Pang, and how she helped him through that difficult period. [1] [2] [3] [4] The term "sweet bird of paradox" in the title is a play on the term "bird of paradise" and refers to the paradox that Lennon had originally intended Pang to be a placeholder while he was separated from Ono but she became important to him. [3] While the final version of the song reflects Lennon's happiness with his relationship with Pang, the earliest versions of the song had him questioning the strength of this relationship. [2]

Music critic Johnny Rogan suggested that although "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" is a love song to May Pang, it contains hints that the relationship is merely functional and that the line "She makes me sweat and forget who I am" suggests that Pang "deadens [Lennon's] true feelings. [5] [6] Music lecturers Ben Urish and Ken Bielen claim that in contrast to expressing the "dawning realization that love was meant to be", as in Lennon's earlier song "Out the Blue", in "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" Lennon expresses the "sudden astonishment of self-centered lust." [7] They explain that Lennon does this by using "marginally connected phrases to approximate the excitement that causes the thoughts to leap ahead of themselves, and their expression to be disrupted as a result." [7] Urish and Bielen give as examples the phrases "Natural high...butterfly," "Just like a willow tree...a breath of spring," and "A bird of paradise...sunrise in her eyes." [7]

An inspiration for the music of the song was the Diamonds' 1957 hit "Little Darlin'". [3] [4] As the song fades out, Lennon sings "sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet love" to a tune similar to that to which the Beatles sang "Beep, beep! Beep, beep, yeah!" during the fadeout of "Drive My Car." [1] [3] [4] [8]

Elton John was originally intended to sing the vocals as a duet with Lennon, but struggled to match Lennon's phrasing. [4] [9] He expressed the frustration of his efforts, saying "People were leaving the room. Razor blades were being passed out!” [9] Lennon ended up overdubbing Elton John's harmony vocals onto the middle eight. [1] [9] A horn part was also overdubbed. [1]

Reception

Rolling Stone critic Ben Gerson said that "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" shows that "Lennon is resilient and can still love," but in doing so contradict the themes of other songs on Walls and Bridges, in which Lennon claims to be in great pain. [10] Lennon eventually came to regard the song as "Just a piece of garbage," although Rogan points out that this assessment may have been motivated by the fact that he was back with Ono by that time. [5] [9]

Alternate version

An early version of "Surprise, Surprise (Sweet Bird of Paradox)" was released on the 1998 compilation album John Lennon Anthology . [2] [11] Beatle biographers Chip Madinger and Mark Easter prefer the Anthology version due to lacking Elton John's harmony vocal, which they view as "clumsy", having a faster tempo, and a more prominent clavinet part. [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>Walls and Bridges</i> 1974 studio album by John Lennon

Walls and Bridges is the fifth studio album by English musician John Lennon. It was issued by Apple Records on 26 September 1974 in the United States and on 4 October in the United Kingdom. Written, recorded and released during his 18-month separation from Yoko Ono, the album captured Lennon in the midst of his "Lost Weekend". Walls and Bridges was an American number-one album on both the Billboard and Record World charts and included two hit singles, "Whatever Gets You thru the Night" and "#9 Dream". The first of these was Lennon's first number-one hit in the United States as a solo artist, and his only solo chart-topping single in either the US or Britain during his lifetime.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Going Down on Love</span> 1985 single by John Lennon

"Going Down on Love" is a song by John Lennon, released as the first track on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges. It was also released as the B-side of Lennon's "Jealous Guy" single in 1985.

"Old Dirt Road" is a song written by John Lennon and Harry Nilsson, first released on Lennon's 1974 album Walls and Bridges. Nilsson later recorded the song on his 1980 album Flash Harry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm Losing You (John Lennon song)</span> 1980 song by John Lennon

"I'm Losing You" is a song written by John Lennon and released on his 1980 album Double Fantasy. It was written in Bermuda in June 1980, after several attempts by Lennon to call his wife, Yoko Ono, who remained in New York. The song is also available on the 1982 compilation The John Lennon Collection, the 1998 boxset John Lennon Anthology, the one disc compilation Wonsaponatime, the 2005 two disc compilation Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon and in 2010 for the Gimme Some Truth album. The song was also featured in the 2005 musical Lennon.

"Nobody Loves You (When You're Down and Out)" is a song written by John Lennon released on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges. The song is included on the 1986 compilation Menlove Ave., the 1990 boxset Lennon, the 1998 boxset John Lennon Anthology, the 2005 two-disc compilation Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon, and the 2010 boxset Gimme Some Truth.

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"Born in a Prison" is a song written by Yoko Ono and first released on her 1972 album with John Lennon Some Time in New York City as part of their Plastic Ono Band project.

"New York City" is a song written by John Lennon that was first released on Lennon's and Yoko Ono's 1972 Plastic Ono Band album Some Time in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">What You Got (John Lennon song)</span> 1974 single by John Lennon

"What You Got" is a song written by John Lennon that was first released on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges. It was later released as the B-side to his top 10 #9 Dream single.

"Bless You" is a song written by John Lennon that was first released on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges. It is a ballad expressing his love for his wife Yoko Ono, even though they were separated at the time. Alternative versions appeared on the compilation albums Menlove Ave. and John Lennon Anthology

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)</span> 1969 single by Yoko Ono and Plastic Ono Band

"Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" (also known as "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for a Hand in the Snow)") is a song by Yoko Ono that was originally released by Plastic Ono Band in October 1969 as the B-side of John Lennon's single "Cold Turkey" and was later released on Ono's 1971 album Fly. Several live versions have been released, including on Live Peace in Toronto 1969 and Some Time in New York City in 1972. An early version was titled "Mum's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow". It has been covered by several other artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Listen, the Snow Is Falling</span> 1971 single by Yoko Ono

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Move Over Ms. L</span> Song by John Lennon

"Move Over Ms. L" is a song written by John Lennon. It was originally intended to be released on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges but was left off shortly before the album release, and was eventually released as the b-side to Lennon's "Stand by Me" single. In the interim it was released by Keith Moon on his album Two Sides of the Moon. Moon also released it as the B-side of his "Solid Gold" single.

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono that was first released on their 1972 Plastic Ono Band album with Elephant's Memory, Some Time in New York City. The song addresses the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972 and is one of two on the album that addresses the contemporary Northern Ireland conflict, "The Luck of the Irish" being the other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beef Jerky (instrumental)</span> Instrumental by John Lennon

"Beef Jerky" is an instrumental written by John Lennon that was released on his 1974 album Walls and Bridges and also as the b-side of the lead single from that album, the #1 hit "Whatever Gets You thru the Night."

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Spizer, Bruce (2005). The Beatles Solo on Apple Records. 498 Productions. p. 87. ISBN   0966264959.
  2. 1 2 3 Blaney, J. (2007). Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work. Jawbone Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN   978-1-906002-02-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Kessler, Jude Southerland (29 July 2022). ""Surprise, Surprise" for John Lennon". Culture Sonar. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Du Noyer, Paul (1999). John Lennon: Whatever Gets You Through the Night. Thunder's Mouth Press. p. 91. ISBN   1560252103.
  5. 1 2 Rogan, Johnny (2010). Lennon: The Albums. Calidore. ISBN   9780857124388.
  6. ↑ Rogan, Johnny (1997). The Complete Guide to the Music of John Lennon. Omnibus Press. pp. 90, 143. ISBN   0711955999.
  7. 1 2 3 Urish, Ben; Bielen, Ken (2007). The Words and Music of John Lennon. Praeger. pp. 60–61. ISBN   9780275991807.
  8. ↑ Metzger, John (14 April 2011). "John Lennon: Walls and Bridges". The Music Box. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Surprise Surprise (Sweet Bird Of Paradox)". The Beatles Bible. 16 August 2010. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  10. ↑ Gerson, Ben (21 November 1974). "Walls and Bridges". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 2022-01-02.
  11. 1 2 Madinger, C. & Easter, M. (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You. 44.1 Productions. p. 101. ISBN   0-615-11724-4.
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