Instant Karma!
"Instant Karma!" (also titled "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)") is a song by English rock musician John Lennon, released as a single on Apple Records in February 1970. The lyrics focus on a concept in which the consequences of one's actions are immediate rather than borne out over a lifetime. The single was credited to "Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band", apart from in the US, where the credit was "John Ono Lennon". The song reached the top five in the British and American charts, competing with the Beatles' "Let It Be" in the US, where it became the first solo single by a member of the band to sell a million copies.
This article is about the John Lennon song. For other uses, see Instant Karma (disambiguation)."Instant Karma!"
"Instant Karma!" was conceived, written, recorded, and released within a period of ten days, making it one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history. The recording was produced by Phil Spector, marking a comeback for the American producer after his self-imposed retirement in 1966, and leading to him being offered the producer's role on the Beatles' Let It Be album. Recorded at London's EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios), "Instant Karma!" employs Spector's signature Wall of Sound technique and features contributions from George Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, and Billy Preston. The B-side was "Who Has Seen the Wind?", a song composed and performed by Ono. When released in the US, the single was given a minor remix by Spector.
Recently shorn of the long hair synonymous with their 1969 campaign for world peace, Lennon and Ono promoted the single with an appearance on Britain's Top of the Pops five days after its release. The song received positive reviews and is considered by some music critics to be among the finest recordings from Lennon's solo career. A live performance recorded at his and Ono's "One to One" concerts in August 1972 was included on the posthumously released Live in New York City (1986). Paul Weller, Duran Duran, and U2 are among the acts who have covered "Instant Karma!" Its chorus also inspired the title to Stephen King's 1977 novel The Shining.
Critical reception[edit]
On release, Chris Welch of Melody Maker declared: "Instant hit! John Lennon is singing better than ever. With a beautiful rock 'n' roll echo chamber on his mean but meaningful vocals and some superb drumming, it makes up the Plastics' best piece of boogie yet."[107] Record World listed the song first on its three "Single Picks of the Week" predictions, saying: "John Ono Lennon is now produced by Phil Spector. 'Instant Karma' ... is gonna get YOU."[108] Cash Box predicted the same success, saying: "'Instant Karma' has made it to New York, full reverb blaring and Lennon's guts pouring out in a most exciting and involving manner. The song tears out with a '50s shuffle style that really makes it."[109] Writing in the NME in 1975, Charles Shaar Murray wrote of the song's "volcanically desperate optimism" and rated it "a classic". Shaar Murray added, with reference to "Cold Turkey" also: "I can't remember anybody else who put out two such utter killers in a row over the same period of time."[110][111]
Village Voice critic Robert Christgau described "Instant Karma!" as Lennon's "best political song,"[112] while some other reviewers consider it to be the artist's finest post-Beatles recording.[113] In their 1975 book The Beatles: An Illustrated Record, Roy Carr and Tony Tyler describe "Instant Karma!" as a "snappy little rocker" that "owes as much to the skilful production of Phil Spector as to the vitality of the overall performance," on which "[d]rummer Alan White excels."[50] Another to highlight White's drumming amid the "collective genius" of all the musicians on "Instant Karma!", author Robert Rodriguez concludes of Lennon's activities on 27 January 1970: "Not many days in the history of rock and roll proved as everlastingly fruitful."[16] In 1981, NME critic Bob Woffinden wrote of the single: "It was excellent. Lennon was characteristically simple and direct, but this time on a song with one of those magically catchy refrains."[114]
Among Lennon biographers, Jon Wiener praises Lennon's "rich, deep voice" on a recording where the sound is "irresistible".[115] Philip Norman describes the song as "similar to 'Cold Turkey' in tempo but far more relaxed and humorous", adding that Spector's production gave Lennon's voice "a taut expressiveness it had not had since 'Norwegian Wood'."[15] While noting the significance of the session for George Harrison's career, author Simon Leng praises the recording as being "full of urgency and sheer excitement."[48]
Stereogum contributors Timothy and Elizabeth Bracy rated it as Lennon's greatest solo song, calling it "an exhilarating gesture and proof that Lennon didn’t need anyone — even the Beatles — in order to make timeless music."[116]
In 1989, Rolling Stone ranked "Instant Karma!" the 79th best single of the previous 25 years.[117] In NME Originals: Beatles – The Solo Years 1970–1980, David Stubbs lists the song second among Lennon's "ten solo gems" (behind "Cold Turkey"), with the comment: "'Instant Karma!' epitomises the Lennon paradox, melding hippie idealism and rock'n'roll primal energy in an exhilarating mix."[118] Matt Melis of Consequence of Sound placed it third on his 2009 list of "Top Ten Songs by Ex-Beatles".[119] "Instant Karma!" has also appeared in the following critics' best-songs lists and books: Dave Marsh's The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made (1989; at number 638), 1000 Songs that Rock Your World by Dave Thompson (2011; number 56), the NME's "The 100 Best Songs of the 1970s" (2012; number 77), and Q magazine's "The 1001 Best Songs Ever" (2003; number 193). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame includes the track among its "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll".[120]
Re-releases and live version[edit]
"Instant Karma!"'s first appearance on a Lennon album, albeit slightly edited in length, was the 1975 compilation Shaved Fish.[71] Urish and Bielen observe that the "advertising hyperbole" inherent in the song's title, through the inclusion of an exclamation mark, is given extra emphasis on this album cover.[27][nb 13] The song has featured – often with the full title "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" – on numerous posthumous compilations,[122] including The John Lennon Collection (1982), the Lennon box set (1990), Lennon Legend (1997),[123] Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon (2005), and Power to the People: The Hits (2010).[124]
Lennon played "Instant Karma!" at his last full-length concert performance[125] – the One to One benefit shows held at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 30 August 1972.[126] His backing band comprised the group Elephant's Memory,[127] in addition to Ono and drummer Jim Keltner.[128] The 1986 album and video Live in New York City contains the afternoon performance of the song.[129]
In July 1992, "Instant Karma!" was re-released as a single in the Netherlands, backed by "Oh My Love".[12] Originally, copies of it were given away with early editions of The John Lennon Video Collection.[12] When released in the rest of Europe (barring the UK), this single reissue gained two extra B-sides: "Mother" and "Bless You".[12]
Of the two 1970 Top of the Pops performances, the "cue card" version appeared on The John Lennon Video Collection in October 1992,[130] while the "knitting" performance was remixed and extended for release on the Lennon Legend DVD (2003).[12] The "knitting" version was also included on the 8 December 2003 UK reissue of Lennon's and Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" single.[12]
Cover versions and cultural references[edit]
Artists who have covered "Instant Karma!" include Toad the Wet Sprocket,[131] Paul Weller,[132] Duran Duran,[133] Tater Totz with Cherie Currie,[134] and Tokio Hotel.[135] In 2007, the song provided the title for Amnesty International's multi-artist compilation of Lennon compositions, Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur,[136] for which U2 recorded a cover version.[137][138] In 2022, the American group Bleachers, formed by the singer and producer Jack Antonoff covered the song for the soundtrack of the animation movie Minions: The Rise of Gru. In addition, Antonoff was the producer of the film's soundtrack, producing most of the covers that make up the album.
The title of Stephen King's 1977 horror novel The Shining came from Lennon's line "We all shine on." King was going to call the book The Shine, before realising that "shine" had been used as a derogatory term for blacks.[139]
In 1988,[140] Ono allowed the footwear and apparel company Nike to feature "Instant Karma!" in an advertising campaign, after a public outcry the previous year had forced her to withdraw permission for the use of the Beatles' "Revolution".[141] Instant Karma Records was named after the song,[142] and the Flaming Lips recorded their track "I Don't Understand Karma" in 2009 as a reply to "Instant Karma!"[143]
According to Harry Castleman and Walter J. Podrazik,[53] except where noted: