Watching the Wheels

"Watching the Wheels" is a single by John Lennon released posthumously in 1981, after his murder. The B-side features Yoko Ono's "Yes, I'm Your Angel." It was the third and final single released from Lennon and Ono's album "Double Fantasy", and reached No. 10 in the US on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and No. 7 on "Cashbox Magazine's" Top 100. It peaked at number 30 in the UK.
Writing and recording.
In "Watching the Wheels" Lennon addresses those who were confounded by his "househusband" years, 1975–1980, during which he retired from the music industry to concentrate on raising his son Sean with Ono. The acoustic demo of "Watching the Wheels" is featured in the ending credits to the 2009 film "Funny People". The song features a hammered dulcimer accompanying the lead piano.
Artwork.
The photograph on the cover was taken by Paul Goresh, a fan of Lennon who also took the infamous photo of Lennon signing a copy of "Double Fantasy" before his murder. Both photos were taken at the same place, in front of the Dakota building, which was the site of his 1980 shooting. The line "People say I'm crazy" from the song was later sampled for use by the band EMF in the track "Lies" from their 1991 album "Schubert Dip"; however, upon immediate protests by Yoko Ono the sampling was removed on subsequent pressings.
Cover versions.
The song has been covered by Gwen Guthrie (1992), The Samples (1997); Paraguayan rock band Deliverans released a Spanish version on the compilation album "Lennon Vive: Un tributo del Rock paraguayo" (2000), Matisyahu for the benefit album "" (2007), and Charly García under the name "Mirando las ruedas" for his album "Kill Gil" (2010). Patrick Wolf re-arranged the song for a performance at Yoko Ono's Meltdown Festival at the Southbank Centre.
An acoustic demo version of the song, performed by Lennon, was featured on the soundtrack of Judd Apatow's 2009 film "Funny People".
In 2020, Chris Cornell, a huge fan of John Lennon, covered the song on his album "No One Sings Like You Anymore, Vol. 1".