John Lennon was often a philosophical songwriter, his lyrics laden with profound wisdom and echoing with a subdued spirituality. While the former Beatle’s bouncy, Elton John-backed hit, “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night,” doesn’t immediately resound with that trademark, it contains an important ethos.
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The meaning behind the 1974 tune may be disguised as simple, but it is one to live by.
Behind the Song
Lennon was inspired to write “Whatever Gets You Thru The Night” from a phrase he heard on television late one evening. This was during a time that would become known as his “Lost Weekend,” an 18-month stint in which the artist moved to Los Angeles, California with his and his wife Yoko Ono’s personal assistant May Pang. With Ono’s blessing, Lennon and Pang would nurture a romantic relationship for those few months.
“At night [Lennon] loved to channel-surf, and would pick up phrases from all the shows,” Pang recalled of that period to Radio Times (via Songfacts). “One time, he was watching Reverend Ike, a famous black evangelist, who was saying, ‘Let me tell you guys, it doesn’t matter, it’s whatever gets you through the night.’ John loved it and said, ‘I’ve got to write it down or I’ll forget it.'”
That moment, she explained, was the start of “Whatever Gets You thru the Night,” a buoyant jazz-flecked bop that harbors some of music’s most reassuring lyrics. Kicking off with an emphatic horn blast and a spew of laughter, the cheery, albeit repetitive, tune understands that life is hard and whatever it is that gets you through it is perfectly peachy.
Whatever gets you through the night / It’s alright, it’s alright, is the hit’s main proverb, permeating the verses and setting minds at ease. The song spouts sage adages like It’s your money or your life, Do it wrong or do it right, Out the blue or out of sight, either way, whatever you choose just know, It’s alright, it’s alright, Lennon assures.
Hold me darlin’, come on listen to me, he pleads alongside Elton John in the breakdown, I won’t do you no harm / Trust me darlin’ come on listen to me, come on listen to me / Come on listen, listen.
Lennon offers more wisdom throughout the song, like Don’t need a sword to cut through flowers, Don’t need a watch to waste your time, and Don’t need a gun to blow your mind, each one changing with every chorus. Overall, the message is as simple as “do what makes you happy,” something that is sadly often easier said than done.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
