Recording: I Don’t Wanna Face It, Walking On Thin Ice, (Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess – 14 August 1980

Thursday 14 August 1980 | John Lennon, Studio

The seventh recording session for John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Double Fantasy album took place at the Hit Factory in New York City on 14 August 1980. Three tracks were worked on during the session — none of which would appear on the finished album. The session was produced by John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Jack Douglas, and engineered by Lee DeCarlo.

The date is particularly poignant in retrospect. John Lennon would be murdered outside his home at the Dakota Building on 8 December 1980 — less than four months after this session. The recordings made during the Double Fantasy sessions in the summer and autumn of 1980 represent some of the last music Lennon ever made.

I Don’t Wanna Face It

‘I Don’t Wanna Face It’ was a John Lennon composition that was recorded during this session but not included on Double Fantasy. It remained unreleased until 1984, when it appeared on Milk And Honey — the posthumous album of Lennon and Ono recordings that was assembled and released by Yoko Ono three years after Lennon’s death. The song’s wry, self-deprecating lyric — in which Lennon catalogues his own evasions and avoidances — is characteristic of the confessional honesty that marks his best solo work.

Walking On Thin Ice

‘Walking On Thin Ice’ was a Yoko Ono composition that became one of the most emotionally charged recordings of the entire Double Fantasy period. Following the completion of the backing track during this session, Lennon turned to Ono and told her:

“I think you just cut your first number one, Yoko.”

— John Lennon, Hit Factory, New York City, 14 August 1980

The song was not included on Double Fantasy but was released as a single in February 1981 — just weeks after Lennon’s murder. The circumstances of its release gave it an extraordinary emotional weight: Lennon had been carrying the master tape of ‘Walking On Thin Ice’ when he was shot outside the Dakota on 8 December 1980. The single reached number 35 in the UK and number 58 in the US, making it one of Ono’s most successful solo releases.

Lennon’s prediction that it would be a number one proved not quite accurate in commercial terms, but his enthusiasm for the track — and his pride in Ono’s work — is one of the most touching details of the entire Double Fantasy story.

John Lennon — officially licensed merch

John Lennon: New York City ’72 Unisex T-Shirt (Black) — Lennon’s adopted home city, where these final recordings were made.

John Lennon New York City T-Shirt →

(Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess

‘(Forgive Me) My Little Flower Princess’ was the third track worked on during the session — another Lennon composition that was held back from Double Fantasy and not released until Milk And Honey in 1984. The song is a tender, intimate piece addressed to Ono, and its inclusion on Milk And Honey alongside ‘I Don’t Wanna Face It’ gave that posthumous album a deeply personal character.

Double Fantasy: the album

Double Fantasy was John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s joint album, released on 17 November 1980 by Geffen Records — just three weeks before Lennon’s murder. It was Lennon’s first new studio album in five years, following a period of self-imposed retirement during which he had devoted himself to raising his and Ono’s son Sean Lennon, born on 9 October 1975.

The album was recorded at the Hit Factory in New York City between August and October 1980, produced by Lennon, Ono and Jack Douglas — who had previously worked with Lennon on Walls and Bridges (1974). The album alternated between Lennon tracks and Ono tracks, presenting the couple’s relationship as a dialogue between two equal creative voices.

Double Fantasy received mixed reviews on its initial release, with some critics finding Ono’s contributions jarring alongside Lennon’s more accessible pop songs. Following Lennon’s murder, the album was re-evaluated and became a worldwide bestseller, reaching number one in both the UK and the US. It won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1982.

John Lennon — officially licensed merch

John Lennon: Imagine Peace Unisex T-Shirt (Black).

John Lennon Imagine Peace T-Shirt →

Key Facts

Frequently Asked Questions

→ Recording: You’ve Got A Nice Way by Ringo Starr – 14 August 1980
→ Recording: Mind Games by John Lennon – 14 August 1973
→ People in Beatles History
→ August in Beatles History
→ On This Day in Beatles History

Shop John Lennon merch: John Lennon New York City T-Shirt | John Lennon Imagine Peace T-Shirt | John Lennon World Peace T-Shirt