The last five years or so of John Lennon‘s life were spent largely away from the public eye. Lennon put his music career on hold so he could concentrate on being a family man with his wife and young son.
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Lennon finally let his inner party animal see the light of day during a 1980 Bermuda vacation. That experience spilled out into the song “I’m Stepping Out,” which found Lennon both referencing his house-husband era and suggesting he was ready to break free from it.
High “Stepping”
When John Lennon headed back into a recording studio in 1980 for the first time in five years, he did so with a surplus of material. While he wasn’t making records during that stretch, he continued to write all along, often returning to specific songs over and again to edit them and work them into shape.
Lennon ended up with so much music in his hopper he had too much for a single release, especially once the decision was made that his comeback album, Double Fantasy, would be split down the middle between his songs and those of his wife, Yoko Ono. Even though “I’m Stepping Out” was recorded early in the album sessions, it didn’t make the final running order.
The song was mostly written by Lennon during a 1980 holiday in Bermuda, which was spent away from Ono. He wrote many songs during that stretch he’d go on to record once he came back and hit the studios in New York.
Lennon had once been known for his wild partying ways, which included his infamous “Lost Weekend” years in Los Angeles when he was separated from Ono. He had largely put those tendencies to bed once he’d reconciled with his wife, instead choosing to spend his time with Ono and their son Sean, who was born in 1975, in their New York apartment.
But while in Bermuda, Lennon allowed himself the indulgence of hitting a nightclub. The next morning, he started work on “I’m Stepping Out.” Although left off Double Fantasy, the song would later grace the posthumous release Milk and Honey in 1984, and was even released as a single.
Behind the Lyrics of “I’m Stepping Out”
“I’m Stepping Out” opens with an improvised Lennon rap about his inspiration for the song, with a humorous reference to watching Sesame Street that any parent of a newborn can appreciate. He then starts the song off with an old blues idiom (Woke up this morning, blues around my head) to explain his woebegone state of mind.
The good news is he’s not down for too long: Went to the kitchen and lit a cigarette / Blew my worries to the sky. In the second verse, he explains the reasons for his doldrums in humorous fashion: The baby’s sleeping, the cats have all been blessed / Ain’t nothing doing on TV. (Lennon’s mention of the very American phenomenon of Summer repeats shows just how much he’d been indoctrinated into life in the U.S. by that time.)
Donning his space suit, he makes his exit now that all his responsibilities are satisfied: I’m going out to do the city. The middle eight brings us some of Lennon’s homespun wisdom: If it don’t feel right, you don’t have to do it / Just leave a message on the phone and tell them to screw it / After all is said and done, you can’t go pleasing everyone.
Without even knowing the rest of the lyrics, you can get a sense of the meaning of “I’m Stepping Out” just by hearing the tone of Lennon’s voice as he sings the title phrase. There’s a freedom and relief in there that says all you need to know about how much he appreciated the break from the routine.
Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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