Album: Walls And Bridges (1974)

Charted: 36 1

License This Song 

• Whatever gets you through the night
  It's alright, it's alright
  It's your money or your life
  It's alright, it's alright
  Don't need a sword to cut through flowers
  No-no, oh-no
  
  Whatever gets you through your life
  It's alright, it's alright
  Do it wrong, or do it right
  It's alright, it's alright
  Don't need a watch to waste your time
  Oh-no, oh-no
  
  Hold me, darlin', come on, listen to me
  I won't do you no harm
  Trust me, darlin', come on, listen to me
  Come on, listen to me, come on, listen, listen
  
  Whatever gets you to the light
  It's alright, it's alright
  Out of the blue, or out of sight
  It's alright, it's alright
  Don't need a gun to blow you mind
  Oh-no, oh-no
  
  Hold me, darlin', come on, listen to me
  I won't do you no harm
  Trust me, darlin', come on, listen to me
  Come on, listen to me, come on, listen, listen Writer/s: John Lennon
  Publisher: Downtown Music Publishing
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 18

• AnonymousJohn liked George McCrae’s Rock Your Baby. WGYTTN is similar.
• Charles from Charlotte'Imagine' should have been a #1 for Lennon in 1971 but did not rise above #2. I believe(?) 'Theme from Shaft' by Isaac Hayes kept the song from the #1 spot.
• Josh from Usare: Mike - Pittsburgh - It just sounds like tape being rewound. Maybe a mistake left in, maybe on purpose. We'll probably never know. Thanks for making me aware! Grrr. lol
• Les from Joplin, MoMaybe it's just me, but the intro of this song always reminds me of the opening music of Saturday Night Live!
• Mike from Pittsburgh, PaDoes anyone have any idea what that crazy sound is about 1 second into this song that sounds like a chipmunk asking a question in klingon? I have been looking for an explanation for that noise for awhile but I can't find anything. Good song by the way, wish the rest of that album was as good.
• Nunzio from Darwin, AustraliaThis started out a lot slower (an early version appears on a bootleg LP) but it wasn't working,so
  like so many songs...it was sped up.
• Richard from Talladega, AlProbably the single most rocking post-Beatles song Lennon recorded.
• Eric from ValenciaIt's a pity that the signature sax is so flat. One of my least favourite of JWL's songs (and I'm a big fan).
• Ivan from Dallas, TxWhen John returned the favor and joined Elton in recording Elton's version of "LSD", he also helped play guitar and was credited as "Dr. Winston O' Boogie", and John reportedly forgot some of the chords and needed Elton's guitarist Davey Johnston to help him. BTW, Davey is a great rock guitarist in his own right. Just listen to some of Elton's rock classics.
• Ken from Louisville, KyThe sax was played by Tom Scott, leader of the famous jazz-rock group "The L.A. Express". Scott was the only person to have performed on solo songs by all four Beatles - he played sax on Ringo's "Photograph", several times for George (most notably in "This Song") and on Paul's "Listen To What The Man Said" (Billy Preston performed on songs by John, George and Ringo, but on none of Paul's).
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Dennis from Anchorage, AkYes, John and Yoko broke up briefly in the seventies. It was a bit weird. John hooked up with May Pang, but it was actually Yoko's idea. She told May that John liked her. After a few months, she came back to John and he dropped May like a brick. Yoko always knew he would. She may have just wanted him to appreciate her more.
• Johnny from Los Angeles, CaKen is probably right (my other comment was not actually from ME), and the sax is great. It sounds like an elton john song, but I am pretty suprised that Elton sang backup as he and John were very different. John broke up with Yoko?
• Rob from Vancouver, CanadaLennon hated this song. He wrote this during his breakup with Yoko when he was doing a lot of boozing with nilson and alice cooper.
• Johnny from Los Angeles, CaIn December, 2005, John and Yoko's personal assistant May Pang told Radio Times: "At night he (John Lennon) loved to channel-surf, and he would pick up phrases from all the shows. 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." He always kept a pad and pen by the bed. That was the beginning of Whatever Gets You Thru The Night." (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England)(Thanks, other watevah gets ya through the night) sry about mispell.
• Lee from Mobile, Alwho's playing that great sax?
  
• Ken from Louisville, KyThe song was John's message to his fans that he was no longer going to preach how they should think or live.
• Kalissa from New York City, NyGreat song,
  its kind of got that peppy McCartney sound to it (hmmm)
• Ken from Louisville, KyElton John agreed to sing backu-up on this but with the following condition: if it went to #1, John would have to join Elton on stage at Madison Square Garden later that year. John never dreamed it would go to #1 - he wasn't crazy about the song to begin with - so he agreed. To John's surprise, it became his only #1 solo song in his lifetime ("Imagine" only made it to #2). John fulfiled his promise by joining Elton on stage (for just 3 songs) at Madison Square Garden on Thanksgiving night 1974. It was John's last public perfromance.

More Songfacts:

I Don't Want To Miss A ThingAerosmith

Diane Warren originally wrote Aerosmith's hit tune "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" for Celine Dion.

Born to be AlivePatrick Hernandez

In 1979, Madonna was a dancer on Patrick Hernandez' tour, where she boogied to his hit "Born To Be Alive."

Careless WhisperWham!

George Michael was 17 and on a bus to his job at the cinema when he came up with the idea for "Careless Whisper" and the lyrics, "Something in your eyes calls to mind a silver screen."

Since U Been GoneKelly Clarkson

Dr. Luke and Max Martin originally wrote Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" with Pink in mind but she turned it down.

Freedom '90George Michael

Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington and Tatjana Patitz lip-synched George Michael's lyrics in his "Freedom '90" video.

Thinking Out LoudEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran wrote the 2014 love song "Thinking Out Loud" about his girlfriend at the time, Athina Andrelos. They split the following year, and Ed started seeing Cherry Seaborn, whom he married in 2019; songs like "Perfect" and "No Strings" are about her.

Editor's Picks

Who Did It First?Music Quiz

Do you know who recorded the original versions of these ten hit songs?

Motley CrueFact or Fiction

Was Dr. Feelgood a dentist? Did the "Crüecifixion" really happen?

James Williamson of Iggy & the StoogesSongwriter Interviews

The Stooges guitarist (and producer of the Kill City album) talks about those early recordings and what really happened with David Bowie.

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Terry Jacks ("Seasons in the Sun")Songwriter Interviews

Inspired by his dear friend, "Seasons in the Sun" paid for Terry's boat, which led him away from music and into a battle with Canadian paper mills.

Vanessa CarltonSongwriter Interviews

The "A Thousand Miles" singer on what she thinks of her song being used in White Chicks and how she captured a song from a dream.