Recording: Waiting for the Sunrise, What a Bastard the World Is and I Want My Love to Rest Tonight – Yoko Ono, 26 October 1972

Thursday 26 October 1972 | Recording | Record Plant, New York City

Yoko Ono worked on three songs for Approximately Infinite Universe on 26 October 1972, with John Lennon co-producing. “Waiting for the Sunrise” was newly recorded, while “What a Bastard the World Is” and “I Want My Love to Rest Tonight” were remakes of songs already attempted earlier in the month.

The date was one stage in a longer production process. Later mixing and string work belong to November, rather than to this recording session.

The session at a glance

One new recording and two remakes

The three-song description can be misleading unless the earlier sessions are included. Yoko did not begin all three recordings for the first time on 26 October.

“What a Bastard the World Is” had already been attempted on 19 October and remade on 24 October. “I Want My Love to Rest Tonight” had first been recorded on 23 October. Returning to them on the 26th meant starting new recorded versions, not merely naming additional mixes of the earlier performances.

“Waiting for the Sunrise” was the only one of the three newly recorded that day. “New” here refers to the session chronology, not a claim about the exact date Yoko composed the song.

Waiting for the Sunrise

The account places “Waiting for the Sunrise” at the beginning of the day’s three-song sequence. Its recording on 26 October was followed by mixing on 4 November.

That November date should not be backdated into the October session. Recording the musical performance and preparing its mix are distinct stages, even when a compact discography gives only one principal date for a song.

The 4 November mixing session also involved “Peter the Dealer”, “What a Waste” and “Song for John”. Our Peter the Dealer article for 25 October 1972 follows the neighbouring recording work and its later mixing context.

What a Bastard the World Is: a third recording

Yoko first worked on “What a Bastard the World Is” on 19 October. It was re-recorded from scratch on 24 October and recorded for a third time on 26 October.

That progression is more precise than describing three days of uninterrupted overdubbing onto one performance. The chronology identifies remakes, so the dates represent renewed recording attempts.

A mix was made on 5 November. Later work dated 20 November added strings, followed by the final stereo mixing on 21 November. The detailed account of the 20 November session describes the identification of its work as string overdubbing as likely, so the exact scope of that booking should not be exaggerated.

The essential distinction remains clear: 26 October was the final recording attempt in this sequence, not the final day on which the track received production work.

I Want My Love to Rest Tonight

The third song had first been recorded on 23 October. Yoko remade it on the 26th, before a succession of later mixing sessions.

Mixes were prepared on 5 and 11 November. The chronology then places string additions on 20 November and final mixing on 21 November.

The 11 November mix was therefore not the final endpoint of the song’s production. Later additions required further work before the released album version was ready.

This illustrates why a recording diary needs more than one date per song. The first attempt, remake, intermediate mix, later overdub and final mix answer different historical questions.

Comparing the three timelines

All dates in this table are in 1972. It summarises the documented stages relevant to these tracks, not every activity at the Record Plant across those weeks.

Yoko’s Approximately Infinite Universe

The recordings became part of Yoko Ono’s third album, the 1973 double album Approximately Infinite Universe. Lennon’s production involvement should not obscure that this was Yoko’s record.

The official album listing credits production to Yoko and John and includes all three songs. “I Want My Love to Rest Tonight” appears earlier in the first disc’s programme, while “What a Bastard the World Is” and “Waiting for the Sunrise” appear towards its end.

Album-wide credits also name Plastic Ono Band, Elephant’s Memory, Endless Strings and choir boys. Those broad credits are not a verified attendance list for each individual recording date, so no complete instrumental line-up is invented for this session.

Location map: Record Plant, New York

The dated account identifies the Record Plant in New York City. This map supplies geographical context for the studio name rather than assigning an unsupported room, desk or precise timetable to the musicians.

Frequently asked questions

Continue exploring: Peter the Dealer, 25 October 1972 · On This Day in Beatles History.