SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: YOKO ONO – IT’S ALRIGHT (I SEE RAINBOWS)

YOKO ONO
IT’S ALRIGHT (I SEE RAINBOWS)
SECRETLY CANADIAN

It’s Alright (I See Rainbows) was originally released in 1982 and was Yoko Ono’s sixth solo studio album. It was also the second album following the murder of John Lennon. While her previous album, Season Of Glass, was musically and lyrically a very heavy album (the pain on the album was understandable). Ono wanted to go in a different direction with It’s Alright (I See Rainbows). While lyrically it still reflects the intense pain of losing Lennon, she does try to make it more pop oriented. She uses synthesizers throughout the album, and the result is a much more upbeat musical feel, but again, as a poet, she expresses a great deal in, sometimes, a few words.

The album has aged extremely well. Songs like “Never Say Goodbye” sound more powerful today than they did at the time. The use of layered sounds and synthesizers produces an eerie, frightening and extremely uncomfortable feeling. And yet, the song is incredibly melodic and sticks with you long after the next song begins. Listen for John Lennon in the song. The same can be said for “Spec of Dust.” Another song that is steeped in pain and loss. “Let the Tears Dry” is a musical painting with creaking gates that seem to be holding Ono back. But the song, while intensely sorrowful, has a very light sprinkle of hope.

But songs such as the title track, which features a seven-year-old Sean Lennon, are both heartbreaking and beautiful. Ono tries to be optimistic and project a better future but gives in to her anxiety (“I don’t feel like facing the world/I feel like crying/I know it’s gonna be alright” she sings). Ono grasps with a great deal on this album, but again, she uses synthesizers wisely and creatively to create a musical landscape that does not always reflect the sadness of what she is singing. There are lighter songs, such as “My Man” which is a love song and features an amusing chorus.

Ono has some top-notch session players working with her (Tony Levin, Neil Jordan, Yogi Horton) and unlike Season of Glass, Ono produced this on her own. Because she had control over this album, it shows Ono not only being influenced by the synth-pop movement but contributing to it and moving it further. It’s Alright (I See Rainbows) features sounds and synthesizer sounds that were ahead of their time. As usual, Ono was one step ahead of the curve.

There are two bonus tracks included on the CD and download, “Forgive Me, My Love” and “Dream Lover (Live in Budapest).” “Forgive me, My Love” was the second song that Lennon and Ono recorded when they returned to the studio on August 7, 1980, to start recording Double Fantasy. The song would not be released until 1992’s Onobox, but it has been included here, with Lennon on guitar. It is a lovely song that has, sadly, been lost over time. It is good it has found a new home.

While Ono’s 1970’s solo albums (with Lennon’s help) on Apple are absolute classics, so too is her output post 1980. Perhaps they are not held in the same high regard, but they should be.  It’s Alright (I See Rainbows) is an incredible album that has been missed for a number of years. In fact, her entire 1980s releases need to be re-evaluated and appreciated for the art that they were and are. Ono is a brilliant lyricist, and this comes across one each and every song. The back cover features a transparent John Lennon overlooking Ono and Sean together, and this is very much in keeping with theme of the album.

Artist Links