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Listen, the Snow Is Falling

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Listen, the Snow Is Falling

"Listen, the Snow Is Falling" is a song written by Yoko Ono and recorded by Ono and the Plastic Ono Band that was first released as the B-side of John Lennon's 1971 single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)". A version of the song was later released on a reissue of Lennon and Ono's Wedding Album and was covered by Galaxie 500.

The song was released on digital and streaming services in 2021 via Secretly Canadian.

Ono had written and recorded an early version of "Listen, the Snow Is Falling" in November 1968 under the title "Snow Is Falling All the Time" as part of the "Song for John" medley during the sessions for Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions. "Song for John" was not released on the original version of Life with the Lions but was eventually released as a bonus track on a CD reissue of the album.

Ono stated of the song:

The first pop song—if you can say pop song—I ever wrote was "Listen, the Snow Is Falling." I did that before [Lennon and I] got together. Then, when we got together, I made it into a real pop song. When you see the original, you couldn't pick out why it was a pop song.

"Listen, the Snow Is Falling" was recorded on October 30, 1971, during the sessions for "Happy Xmas (Was Is Over)." Ono sings the lead vocals, Lennon and Hugh McCracken play guitar, Klaus Voormann plays bass, Nicky Hopkins plays organ and chimes, and Jim Keltner plays drums and sleigh bells. The recording sessions were tense. There was difficulty settling on a tempo, with the band originally playing it fast and as a rock song, which was not how Ono wanted it. Ono also disagreed with some of the riffs that McCracken and Voormann were developing. And she criticized some of Hopkins' playing, wanting him to play as if "snow is melting from your fingertips, not that banging." But the ultimate recording turned out serene, despite the studio tension.

The song begins with sounds of the wind blowing and people walking through the snow. According to music critic Johnny Rogan, these came from sound effects recordings entitled "Strong Wind" and "Feet in the Snow." The lyrics speak of snow falling in actual places, such as Trafalgar Square, the Empire State Building, Tokyo, Paris and Dallas, as well as "between your head and my mind," a metaphor for the love between Ono and Lennon. Some of the instruments play a descending melody, which music lecturers Ben Urish and Ken Bielen regard as invoking the sound of falling snow, while a guitar plays a gentle ascending riff. Late in the song, Urish and Bielen hear a few measures that they feel sound similar to the Beatles' "Sun King," written by Lennon. The song ends with a return to the sounds of wind and people walking in the snow, and Ono finally whispers to "listen!"

Music journalist Peter Doggett describes Ono's vocals as "fragile" and "gentile" and describes Lennon's playing as supporting Ono's vocals with "melodic reverb guitar."

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