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Background

"(Just Like) Starting Over" was the first single released from Double Fantasy and the first new recording Lennon had released since he left the music industry in 1975.³ It was chosen by Lennon not because he felt it was the best track on the album, but because it was the most appropriate following his five-year absence from the recording industry. He referred to it during production as the "Elvis/Orbison" track, as he "tongue in cheek" impersonated their vocal styles. Lennon explained, "All through the taping of 'Starting Over,' I was calling what I was doing 'Elvis Orbison': 'I want you I need only the lonely.' I'm a born-again rocker, I feel that refreshed, and I'm going right back to my roots."⁴ At the start of the 2010 "Stripped Down" version of the song, Lennon says "this one's for Gene, and Eddie, and Elvis... and Buddy."

Composition

Although its origins were in unfinished demo compositions like "Don't Be Crazy" and "My Life", it was one of the last songs to be completed in time for the Double Fantasy sessions. "We didn't hear it until the last day of rehearsal," producer Jack Douglas said in 2005.⁵ Lennon finished the song while on holiday in Bermuda, and recorded it at The Hit Factory in New York City just weeks later. The song was originally titled "Starting Over"; however, "(Just Like)" was added prior to its release because of its similarity to Dolly Parton's "Starting Over Again" which had topped the US Country Charts earlier in the year. The chiming bell that opens the song was a deliberate allusion to the heavy tolling church bell that opens Lennon's 1970 song "Mother", illustrating how far Lennon had come in ten years.⁶⁷

While commercial releases of the song (original 45rpm singles, LPs and Compact Discs) run a length of three minutes and 54 seconds, a promotional 12" vinyl single originally issued to radio stations features a longer fadeout, officially running at four minutes 17 seconds.

Musicologist Walter Everett noted melodic similarities between a portion of the song and the Beach Boys' 1964 single "Don't Worry Baby".⁸

Recording

Lennon recorded "(Just Like) Starting Over" on 9 August 1980 at The Hit Factory. The track was mixed at the Record Plant on 25–26 September 1980.⁹

Release and reception

The song is Lennon's biggest solo hit in the US, staying at number 1 for five weeks. Before Lennon was murdered in New York City on 8 December 1980, the single had reached number 3 on the US charts. It reached number 1 for the week ending 27 December.¹⁰ Billboard ranked it at the No. 4 song for 1981.¹¹ The song also reached number 1 on the Cashbox Top 100.¹²

In the UK, it had peaked at number 8 in the charts and had fallen to position number 21 before Lennon's death propelled it to number 1.¹³ It was overtaken to the Christmas Number One Single rank by the St Winifred's School Choir's "There's No One Quite Like Grandma," finishing at number 2 on that list.¹⁴ By 6 January 1981, there were three Lennon songs in the UK top 5, a feat that remained unequalled for 35 years when Justin Bieber managed to accomplish this in January 2016.

Billboard magazine considered "(Just Like) Starting Over" to be an "uptempo, fresh sounding rocker," praising the "irresistible melody and lyric line," the "exceptional rhythm unit" as well as Lennon's vocal performance.¹⁵ Record World said that "John steps briskly into the mainstream with this glorious pop-rocker."¹⁶

In 2013, Billboard ranked it as the 62nd biggest hit of all time on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.¹⁷

Stereogum contributors Timothy and Elizabeth Bracy rated it as Lennon's seventh best solo song, saying that it "finds him in throwback mode, delightfully evoking the doo-wop of his childhood on an uncharacteristically winsome ode to rejuvenated love."¹⁸ Ultimate Classic Rock critic Stephen Lewis rated it as Lennon's seventh greatest solo love song, saying that "The undeniably catchy rock and roll song – a tribute to past rock and rollers – appeals to ears and hearts, with a solid groove and an optimistic and wistful lyric that is honest, without becoming maudlin."¹⁹

On 8 October 2010, in honor of what would have been his 70th birthday the following day, iTunes released remastered albums, iTunes LPs, and a free track, the 2010 remix of "(Just Like) Starting Over".

Charts

Certifications

Covers

The Flaming Lips recorded a version for the benefit album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.

Personnel

• John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Earl Slick, Hugh McCracken – lead guitar
• Tony Levin – bass guitar
• George Small – keyboards
• Andy Newmark – drums
• Arthur Jenkins – percussion
• Michelle Simpson, Cassandra Wooten, Cheryl Manson Jacks, Eric Troyer – backing vocals

See also

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1980
• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1981
• List of posthumous number-one singles (UK)

External links

• Just Like Starting Over The Recording Of Double Fantasy by Chris Hunt, published in Uncut John Lennon Special, 2005

References

1. "Review: John Lennon – (Just Like) Starting Over" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 85, no. 44. 1 November 1980. p. 91. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 30 May 2020 – via American Radio History. https://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1980/BB-1980-11-01.pdf ↩

2. Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book (illustrated ed.). [S.l.]: Paper Jukebox. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-9544528-1-0. 978-0-9544528-1-0 ↩

3. Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book (illustrated ed.). [S.l.]: Paper Jukebox. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-9544528-1-0. 978-0-9544528-1-0 ↩

4. "John Lennon - Rolling Stone Interview, 12/5/1980". 1980. https://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1980.1205.beatles.html ↩

5. "Just Like Starting Over" by Chris Hunt, Uncut John Lennon Special, 2005 /wiki/Chris_Hunt ↩

6. Official Tweet from The John Lennon Estate https://twitter.com/johnlennon/status/1579193485432745986?lang=en ↩

7. How Fate Intervened on John Lennon's Last Chart-Topping Single, Ultimate Classic Rock https://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-lennon-final-charttopper-starting-over/ ↩

8. Everett, Walter (2008). The Foundations of Rock : From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes". Oxford University Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-19-971870-2. 978-0-19-971870-2 ↩

9. Madinger, Chip; Raile, Scott (2015). LENNONOLOGY Strange Days Indeed - A Scrapbook of Madness. Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books, LLC. pp. 520, 528. ISBN 978-1-63110-175-5. 978-1-63110-175-5 ↩

10. Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book (illustrated ed.). [S.l.]: Paper Jukebox. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-9544528-1-0. 978-0-9544528-1-0 ↩

11. Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1981 /wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1981 ↩

12. Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book (illustrated ed.). [S.l.]: Paper Jukebox. p. 326. ISBN 978-0-9544528-1-0. 978-0-9544528-1-0 ↩

13. Blaney, John (2005). John Lennon: Listen to This Book (illustrated ed.). [S.l.]: Paper Jukebox. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-9544528-1-0. 978-0-9544528-1-0 ↩

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17. Bronson, Fred (2 August 2013). "Hot 100 55th Anniversary: The All-Time Top 100 Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 9 August 2013. http://www.billboard.com/articles/list/2155531/the-hot-100-all-time-top-songs?list_page=4 ↩

18. Bracy, Timothy; Bracy, Elizabeth (13 May 2014). "The 10 Best John Lennon Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved 3 May 2023. https://www.stereogum.com/1681100/the-10-best-john-lennon-songs/lists/ ↩

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48. "British single certifications – John Lennon – (Just Like) Starting Over". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 27 December 2022. https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/8-2886-1 ↩

49. "American single certifications – John Lennon – Starting Over". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 27 December 2022. https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=John+Lennon&ti=Starting+Over&format=Single&type=#search_section ↩