Watching The Wheels (1981) – John Lennon

I remember years ago watching Catholic Bishop Robert Barron discussing the old medieval metaphor called the Wheel of Fortune, which is occasionally seen in medieval churches and cathedrals. It was derived from the Roman goddess Fortuna.

At the top is a king, at the bottom a pauper, on one side a king who has lost his crown, and on the other a man climbing a ladder. It symbolizes the unpredictable rise and fall of human fate. According to the Christian interpretation, Christ is at the centre of the wheel – pure love.

The Christians say where you should live is at the centre of the wheel, where Christ is. The secular interpretation like the Christian one might be finding a form of ‘indifference’ and detaching oneself from the rim of the wheel – detached from success, failure, more success or less success.

The Bishop mentioned how today’s featured song Watching the Wheels refers to the Wheel of Fortune. Lennon’s song, he said, is straight out of the medieval mystics. John Lennon acknowledged he had ridden this wheel like crazy, but near the end of his life he found a certain indifference to it, along with relief and a sense of bemusement through detachment.

No longer ridin’ on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

The song appears on Lennon’s posthumous compilation The John Lennon Collection shown inset. I don’t know how many times I put the needle down on this record as a kid, but it was a lot. We had one of those old wooden turntables which looked like a dresser, and I remember sitting in front of the fireplace listening to it.

My memories are thick with Watching the Wheels and his other big songs from his final record Double Fantasy including [Just Like] Starting Over, Woman and Beautiful Boy. In fact, Watching the Wheels was the third single released from Double Fantasy, after (Just Like) Starting Over and Woman.

Lennon addresses those who were confounded by his “househusband” years from 1975 to 1980, during which he stepped away from the music industry to concentrate on raising his son Sean with Yoko Ono.

“I hadn’t stopped from ’62 till ’73 – on demand, on schedule, continuously. Walking away was hard…”

For someone who had been globally famous since his early twenties, stopping meant confronting a frightening question: Who am I if the world stops watching?

The single was released posthumously in 1981 after Lennon’s murder. It reached No. 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 30 in the UK.

[Verse 1]
People say I’m crazy
Doin’ what I’m doin’
Well, they give me all kinds of warnings
To save me from ruin
When I say that I’m okay
Well, they look at me kinda strange
“Surely you’re not happy now?
You no longer play the game”

[Verse 2]
People say I’m lazy
Dreamin’ my life away
Well, they give me all kinds of advice
Designed to enlighten me
When I tell ’em that I’m doin’ fine
Watchin’ shadows on the wall
“Don’t you miss the big time, boy?
You’re no longer on the ball”

[Chorus]
I’m just sittin’ here watchin’ the wheels go ’round and ’round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer ridin’ on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

[Verse 3]
Ah, people askin’ questions
Lost in confusion
Well, I tell them there’s no problem
Only solutions
Well, they shake their heads and they look at me
As if I’ve lost my mind
I tell them, “There’s no hurry
I’m just sittin’ here doing time”

References:
1. Watching the Wheels – Wikipedia