"Jealous Guy" is a song written and originally recorded by the English rock musician John Lennon from his second studio album Imagine (1971). Not released as a single during Lennon's lifetime, it became an international hit in a version by Roxy Music issued in early 1981; this version reached #1 in the UK and Australia, and was a top 10 hit in several European countries. Lennon's own version was subsequently issued as a single, and charted in the US and UK.
Lennon began writing the song in 1968, when, as "Child of Nature", it was among the many songs demoed by the Beatles before they recorded their self-titled double album (also known as the "White Album"). The lyrics were originally inspired by a lecture given by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in early 1968, when the Beatles attended his spiritual retreat in Rishikesh, India. In January 1969, The Beatles (primarily John) jammed the song during their Get Back / Let It Be recording sessions, where it was referred to as "On the Road to Marrakesh".[1][2][3]
"Jealous Guy" is one of the most commonly recorded Lennon songs, with at least 92 cover versions.
Origins
The song's inspiration came in India, after the Beatles attended a lecture by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi about a "son of the mother nature". This inspired both Paul McCartney and John Lennon to write songs about the same subject. McCartney's composition, "Mother Nature's Son", was selected for The Beatles, but Lennon did not attempt to record "Child of Nature" during the sessions for the album. Both were demoed at George Harrison's Esherhome in May 1968. The demo of "Child of Nature" featured Lennon's double-tracked vocal and playing an acoustic guitar. Early the following year, Lennon revisited the song as "On the Road to Marrakesh" during the Get Back sessions.[4] Eventually, the lyrics were scrapped and replaced by the now well-known "Jealous Guy" lyrics for Imagine.
Listening to the original Esher Demo, the song begins "On the road to Rishikesh" and mentions mountains. It is not referring to Marrakesh in Morocco, and there is no evidence Lennon ever visited there. In its rewritten form, the song serves as a confessional in which Lennon addresses the feelings of inadequacy that resulted in pain for those he loved.
Three recordings of "Child of Nature" are currently known. The first is a demo of the song recorded at the home of George Harrison in May 1968. The second, on which Harrison sings backing vocals, was recorded at Twickenham Film Studios on 2 January 1969. A third recording was made at the Beatles' Apple Studio on 24 January. A snatch of the chorus from the second recording appears on the Fly on the Wall bonus disc packaged with Let It Be... Naked (2003).[4] The first recording appears on the fiftieth anniversary release of The Beatles, which contains all of the demos recorded at Esher.[5][6]
Lennon's recording of "Jealous Guy" was released on the Imagine album in 1971. It was not released as a single until November 1985, five years after Lennon's murder, and four-and-a-half years after Roxy Music had taken their cover of the song to number one. Accompanied on the B-side by "Going Down on Love", a track from Walls and Bridges (1974), the single reached number 65 in the UK charts.[8]
Stereogum contributors Timothy and Elizabeth Bracy rated it as Lennon's second best solo song, saying that "we have Lennon at his most wounded and vulnerable, confessing to every manner of emotional extortion, and somehow still on the defensive" in a song with "a melody worthy of anything the Beatles ever produced."[11]
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Stephen Lewis rated it as Lennon's third greatest solo love song, calling it "one of his most mature piano melodies."[12]
Personnel
The following musicians performed on the final track on Imagine:[13][14]
United Kingdom (BPI)[15] 2011 release (not the original 1985 release)
Silver
200,000‡
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. ‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.
Promotional video
A promotional video was made for the song in 1971. It showed, mostly in a continuous overhead shot by helicopter, John and Yoko travelling in a hearse from their Tittenhurst Park mansion to a nearby lake, where they were then shown getting into a row boat.[16][17]
Following Lennon's murder in 1980, Roxy Music added a version of the song to their set while touring in Germany, which they recorded and released in February 1981.[21] The single was released by Polydor with "To Turn You On" as the B-side, with catalogue number "ROXY 2".[21][22] The song was the only UK No. 1 hit for Roxy Music, topping the charts for two weeks in March 1981.[23]
"To Turn You On" later appeared on their eighth studio album Avalon (1982), although it was slightly remixed.[24] Roxy Music's cover of "Jealous Guy" features on many Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music collections and 1980s music compilations, though not always in its full-length version. As of 1982, the single had sold 91,000 copies in Australia.[25]
A music video was filmed for the song, which mainly consisted of Bryan Ferry singing to camera before whistling and playing on a Sequential CircuitsProphet-5 synthesizer during the coda. Guitarist Phil Manzanera and saxophonist Andy Mackay also appear in the video during their respective solos.
In 2012, Belgian singer of Italian origin Roberto Bellarosa recorded "Jealous Guy" after winning the first season of The Voice Belgique. It was released as a single on 4 April 2012 and included on his debut studio album Ma voie.[38] The single reached number 4 in Belgium.[39]
^Madinger, Chip; Raile, Scott (2015). LENNONOLOGY Strange Days Indeed, – A Scrapbook Of Madness. Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books, LLC. pp. 239, 247. ISBN978-1-63110-175-5.
