# yoko ono

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 3, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279 "2014-07-03T16:42:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 15\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/21 "2014-07-04T05:30:34Z")

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> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> To someone (like me) that can’t stand _any_ of _Double Fantasy_, that gives a different judgement of her talent than you may have intended.🙂

To someone like me, who thinks “Hard Times Are Over” is great, and who thinks the tandem of “I’m Losing You” and “I’m Moving On” is also great, that means I couldn’t care less.

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**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/22 "2014-07-04T09:08:31Z")

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Meh, she’s an avant-garde artiste. Doesn’t matter if it’s music, singing, performance art, sculpture, drawing, or paint. It’s avant-garde. And over the years, I’ve learned to accept the shame of not being sophisticated enough to appreciate it.

😉

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/23 "2014-07-04T11:30:56Z")

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You kidding? “Kiss Kiss Kiss” is one of the badassest songs ever.

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**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/24 "2014-07-04T16:00:03Z")

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> [@Subterraneanus](#):
>
> To someone like me, who thinks “Hard Times Are Over” is great, and who thinks the tandem of “I’m Losing You” and “I’m Moving On” is also great, that means I couldn’t care less.

U mad, bro?

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**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/25 "2014-07-05T04:12:33Z")

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> [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](#):
>
> Oh my god, I haven’t laughed that hard in months.
> 
> Thankys!

I haven’t even looked at the link, and I laughed out loud, and hard, at the reference of ‘…dulcet tones…’. Those words in the same paragraph as a reference to Yoko Ono are world-class.  
Hilarious,\*\* Face Intentionally Left Blank\*\*.

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**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/26 "2014-07-05T04:15:09Z")

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> [@Maserschmidt](#):
>
> If there’s something you can just shove out, then do so.

Are these quotes from her work?

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/27 "2014-07-05T04:52:17Z")

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Is it lyrics you want?

[“What a Mess” _Approximately Infinite Universe_ (1973)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G70Sj0BMwok)

If you keep hammering anti-abortion,  
We’ll tell you no more masturbation for men.  
Ev’ry day you’re killing living sperms in billions,  
So how do you feel about that, brother?

I love her.

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**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/28 "2014-07-05T23:56:39Z")

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I don’t think I would go to one of her performances, if she is still doing them, but I always liked her music because it was quirky.

I haven’t listened to any tracks from The White Album in a while, but I think she can be heard doing some of the weird sounds in the background throughout the album.

The song, Bungalow Bill, features her singing the chorus, one of my favorite tracks.

I like her, cute and quirky, very Japanese. I lived in Japan for a few years and am a sucker for the cute stuff.

I also love to hear The 5,6,7,8s mangle all those old rock songs, they are great!

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**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/29 "2014-07-06T02:34:55Z")

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> [@Shearer](#):
>
> He was off his tits.

And on hers.

Obligatory _Simpsons_ link: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22EHOmtWNwI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22EHOmtWNwI)

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**Author:** ![Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f6c823/32.png) [@Absinthe\_Anecdote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absinthe_Anecdote)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/30 "2014-07-06T12:05:39Z")

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> [@Johanna](#):
>
> Is it lyrics you want?
> 
> [“What a Mess” _Approximately Infinite Universe_ (1973)](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G70Sj0BMwok)
> 
> If you keep hammering anti-abortion,  
> We’ll tell you no more masturbation for men.  
> Ev’ry day you’re killing living sperms in billions,  
> So how do you feel about that, brother?
> 
> I love her.

Every sperm is sacred  
Every sperm is great  
If a sperm is wasted  
God gets quite irate

Let the heathen spill theirs  
On the dusty ground  
God shall make them pay for  
Each sperm that can’t be found

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**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/31 "2014-07-06T18:01:32Z")

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> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#):
>
> John thought she was brilliant. I trust his opinion more than yours.

That’s an interesting point of view, but I don’t generally let famous people influence my opinion so much.

Without trusting my opinion or john lennons one way or another…what is your opinion? Do you think her singing is brilliant?

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**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2014, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/32 "2014-07-06T18:19:45Z")

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> [@lissener](#):
>
> I love her stuff. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-sMr0boVlM)’s a recentish collaboration with Basement Jaxx.
> 
> And here’s one of my top-ten dance tracks of ALL TIME, Yoko Ono’s “[Walking on Thin Ice](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzV7FiuDYKo).” Unparalleled.

Thanks for the links; I haven’t heard Walking on Thin Ice for a long time. Awesome. Sounds a lot like some of David Bowie, actually. I think maybe those who hate Ono’s singing are thinking she is unable to sound like other singers, instead of realizing she sounds exactly as she wants to sound. You don’t have to like it but at least acknowledge she’s doing something on purpose and not “just a lousy singer”. Funny how nobody says Bowie is “just a lousy singer” when he does some of his more avant garde stuff.

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2014, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/33 "2014-07-07T21:27:57Z")

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1972 was quite a year for feminist anthems. Helen Reddy’s “I Am Woman” hit #1. Yoko Ono’s “Sisters, O Sisters” came out that year too. Although Helen Reddy is top-40s pop and Yoko Ono is classified as avant-garde, Yoko’s song is no more unconventional in music or lyrics by comparison to Helen’s. It was released as a [rock-‘n’-roll](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0npy0EJoo8) arrangement. But when the Onos played [an unplugged gig](http://youtu.be/xxeyDmR6jbs), the music shifted to _Hootenanny_ guitars. The more I listen to both, the more I think Ono composed the better melody, although both songs have great melodies.

> [@kayT](#):
>
> Thanks for the links; I haven’t heard Walking on Thin Ice for a long time. Awesome. Sounds a lot like some of David Bowie, actually. I think maybe those who hate Ono’s singing are thinking she is unable to sound like other singers, instead of realizing she sounds exactly as she wants to sound. You don’t have to like it but at least acknowledge she’s doing something on purpose and not “just a lousy singer”. Funny how nobody says Bowie is “just a lousy singer” when he does some of his more avant garde stuff.

Well said.

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**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/34 "2014-07-08T00:08:33Z")

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Thanks, **Johanna**.

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**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2014, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yoko-ono/692279/35 "2014-07-08T02:29:31Z")

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> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#):
>
> Indeed. Enjoy her dulcet tones here, particularly around 1:20 and 2:30.
> 
> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9kgu71d81U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9kgu71d81U)

When I was growing up in the early 70’s I remember the older brother of my friend down the street had a copy of Plastic Ono Band’s [Why](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9lzNXHZEQs). Dulcet tones indeed.

Back in the mid-80’s when they did that “Hands Across America” thing, David Letterman was talking about it in his monologue the following week. He mentioned how packed Battery Park was and how after it was over there was this huge feeling of camaraderie and nobody wanted to leave… so the police asked Yoko Ono if she would get up on stage and sing a couple of songs. 😃

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