Nobody Told Me
Encyclopedia
"Nobody Told Me" is a song by the British musician John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

. Recorded (but uncompleted) shortly before his death in 1980, the song was later completed by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...

 in 1983 and released as the first single from Lennon and Ono's album Milk and Honey in 1984. The song was later released in the UK in 1990, b/w "I'm Stepping Out
I'm Stepping Out
"I'm Stepping Out" is the final single from the final John Lennon and Yoko Ono album Milk and Honey. In it, Lennon celebrates his enthusiasm for the night life of New York City, and makes tongue in cheek reference to his "househusband" period. It reached #88 in the UK Singles chart and #55 in the...

". The song was originally written for Ringo Starr
Ringo Starr
Richard Starkey, MBE better known by his stage name Ringo Starr, is an English musician and actor who gained worldwide fame as the drummer for The Beatles. When the band formed in 1960, Starr was a member of another Liverpool band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes. He became The Beatles' drummer in...

 to include on his 1981 album Stop and Smell the Roses
Stop and Smell the Roses
Stop and Smell the Roses is the eighth studio album by Ringo Starr, released in 1981 following the twin commercial disasters of Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy .-History:...

, but Lennon died before the song could be used.

"Nobody Told Me" was Lennon's last new single to reach the UK Top 10, peaking at #6 (although a reissue of "Imagine
Imagine (song)
"Imagine" is a song written and performed by the English musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971...

 reached #3 in December 1999). The single was also Lennon's last US Top 10 hit, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, and was his third single to enter the US Top 10 posthumously.

The B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...

 features Yoko Ono's "O'Sanity", also from the Milk and Honey album.

The lyrics make reference to "a little yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu" which is similar to a line from J. Milton Hayes
J. Milton Hayes
John Milton Hayes , better known as J. Milton Hayes, was an English actor and poet, best known for his 1911 dramatic monologue The Green Eye of the Yellow God, much parodied by his contemporary Stanley Holloway and later by The Goon Show. He also wrote and performed many other monologues...

' poem entitled The Green Eye of the Yellow God
The Green Eye of the Yellow God
The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God is a 1911 poem by J. Milton Hayes that is a famous example of the genre of "dramatic monologue", which was a music hall staple in the early twentieth century...

. Hayes' line was "There’s a one-eyed yellow idol to the north of Kathmandu".

Another line in the song is "There's UFO's over New York and I ain't too surprised", apparently a reference to a UFO
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...

 sighting Lennon had back in 1974. He made reference to this in the liner notes to his 1974 album Walls and Bridges
Walls and Bridges
Walls and Bridges is the fifth album by John Lennon; it was issued 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 captures Lennon in the midst of The Lost Weekend...

with the message: "On the 23rd August 1974 at 9 o'clock I saw a U.F.O. - J.L.".

The line "Nobody told me there'd be days like these..." is in contrast to the old adage "My mother told me there'd be days like this."

The promo video for the single was made up of clips of footage from Lennon's other videos, as are most posthumous Lennon videos.

Cover versions

  • The Flaming Lips
    The Flaming Lips
    The Flaming Lips are an American alternative rock band, formed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in 1983.Melodically, their sound contains lush, multi-layered, psychedelic rock arrangements, but lyrically their compositions show elements of space rock, including unusual song and album titles—such as "What...

     recorded a version for the 1995 John Lennon tribute album Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon
    Working Class Hero: A Tribute to John Lennon
    Working Class Hero is a 1995 tribute album to Beatles singer/songwriter John Lennon. It gets its name from a Lennon song of the same name. The album was produced by Lindy Goetz through Hollywood Records in support of the Humane Society of the United States...

    .
  • The benefit album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
    Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
    Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur is a compilation album of various artists covering songs of John Lennon to benefit Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the crisis in Darfur...

    contained a version by Big & Rich
    Big & Rich
    Big & Rich is an American country music duo composed of Big Kenny and John Rich. Both members alternate as lead vocalists and play rhythm guitar...

    .
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