John Lennon’s son Sean has explained the meaning behind his father’s solo album ‘Mind Games.’
The album came out during tough times for Yoko Ono and Lennon — pressure from the media and the FBI, their bumpy relationship and more. Now, a new box set has been released by Sean and it details what the couple have gone through.
Fans often see the album as a breakup record, partly due to the 18-month separation dubbed Lennon’s ‘Lost Weekend,’ when he reportedly partied in Los Angeles. Sean, pointing to the album’s cover art, disagrees. It features a collage of Lennon as a small figure and Ono as a large mountain in the distance.
“My mother is this giant mountain in the distance and dad is this diminutive little man receding into nowhere,” he told People in a new interview. Sean believes the image was a self-portrait. “His entire life and art was infused with his relationship with my mom.”
“The whole album is about my mom,” Sean added. “They’re mostly love songs about her. My dad declared to the world that ‘John and Yoko’ were one word. I think he always had his heart set on her. He was so in love with her. They had a legendary love and I think that this album is infused with that love. You can hear it.”
Earlier this month, a Swiss court decided that a lost Patek Philippe watch, given to John Lennon by Yoko Ono for his 40th birthday, belongs to Yoko. A month later, in November 1980, Lennon released ‘Double Fantasy.’ The album, with a cover showing the couple kissing, included four songs for Yoko. It was their last album together before Lennon’s death.
