Yoko Ono Issue #31

The legendary experimental artist’s unfinished work gets a happy new ending on Yes, I’m a Witch

By Amy Schroeder
Published: March 1st, 2007 | 12:00am

Yoko Ono is one of the world’s most interesting people. Though she’s perhaps most famous for being married to John Lennon, after years of public scrutiny and criticism, she’s still a misunderstood figure. If her music — which is mysterious, challenging, and sometimes weird — hadn’t been compared to Lennon’s pop masterpieces, she may have been perceived differently.

For her latest album, Ono invited 17 musicians and bands to put a new spin on her music. She opened up her back catalog and gave the artists freedom to use her vocals and whatever instrumental elements attracted them to that cut. Most of the musicians — including Flaming Lips, Cat Power, DJ Spooky, and Antony of Antony and the Johnsons — chose to use only the vocals to create entirely new musical tracks.

Ono titled the collection Yes, I’m a Witch after a song she wrote in 1973. “It wasn’t a very popular song, and I’d sort of forgotten about it,” Ono says. “But it made sense — the song was sort of a concept, and using the title now makes sense for a conceptual album.”

Peaches converts Ono’s “Kiss Kiss Kiss” into a poppy dance-fest. “Working on the remix made me realize again how futuristic, fearless, and inventive Yoko was in her approach to music,” Peaches says.

Le Tigre chose to remix “Sisters O Sisters” because they loved the overtly feminist message and direct songwriting style — lyrics include “It’s never too late to shout from our hearts / O freedom, o freedom, that’s what we fight for.” “Yoko Ono never comes across as an artist who is afraid of what people will think of her, and that has been a constant source of inspiration throughout my career,” Kathleen Hanna says.

Le Tigre’s Johanna Fateman says it was thrilling to have access to the original multi-track recording of an artist the band admires so much, and that she could hear Ono and John Lennon casually speaking to one another at the beginning of the tape. “When we put our awe aside and got to work, it was definitely a challenge,” Fateman says. “We had to approximate the tempo of the song — which was played by a live band, without a drum machine or click-track. We painstakingly edited her vocals so we could use a ProTools grid and make a new beat without her voice slipping out of time.”

Ono explains the idea for Yes, I’m a Witch was spawned in a roundabout way. In 2001, four DJs called Orange Factory expressed interest in remixing Ono’s “Open Your Box,” the B-side to John Lennon’s single “Power to the People.” Ono had written the song 30 years earlier. The track was considered controversial by many who interpreted the lyrics as risqué (lyrics include “Open your box, open your legs, open your world, open, open, open.”) Upon its original release, the song was banned from U.K. airplay but later released after an echo was added to blur the lyrics. Ono loved Orange Factory’s version of the song so much that she was inspired to give the remix concept another go, triggering Yes, I’m a Witch.

“Like my artwork, I like the idea of having other people adding something to my music,” Ono says. “I wanted music to be finished by the people, so when [Lennon and I] did the album called Two Virgins, I put it out as unfinished music. And when I did an art gallery show where I met John, I called it Unfinished Paintings because I like this idea of unfinishedness because then it’s finished by other people putting something on it. So it was always unfinished music, unfinished paintings, unfinished whatever.”

Ono says that when she and Lennon were recording 1968’s Two Virgins, she hoped the music would someday be reused or remixed by another artist. “And of course it didn’t happen,” Ono says. “So, I was thinking about the cover because the cover is of us naked. It was all right if nobody wanted to use it and nobody wanted to remix it. But then this time around [with Yes, I’m a Witch], they caught the spirit of it.”

Though we planned to interview Ono in person for this story in December 2006, she had to deal with the mayhem that ensued when her chauffeur attempted to extort $2 million from her. The driver, Koral Karsan, has been charged with grand larceny, and a Manhattan Criminal Court judge set his bail at $500,000. We talked with Ono on the phone briefly in January. Sounding confident and strong, she was happy to talk about Yes, I’m a Witch, her biggest challenge, and her love for life.

On Yes, I’m a Witch, do you think any of the artists did something so different that it changed the meaning or feel of the song?
I think they really got the message, and that’s the reason why they chose their particular song to remix. It felt really good — it kind of choked me up a bit because it’s such an incredible thing to happen. And for me to be around and witness it, I’m very lucky. The whole thing means a lot to me. I would say the one that really surprised me was “Cambridge 1969/2007” by the Flaming Lips. I thought, “Why in the world did he select that?” But [Wayne Coyne] did an incredible job. It’s amazing.

You’re a brave figure in the art and music worlds. How have you dealt with criticism with people calling you controversial or bizarre over the years?
I’m just myself, and usually just being myself creates a lot of problems. I’m not trying to create problems — that’s the funny thing about it. When I did something and people told me it was outrageous, I didn’t think I was being outrageous. I was just being me.

All the same, so many musicians have respect for your work as an avant-garde artist. Because of this, do you think as time has gone on, the general public has changed its feelings about you?
Yeah, maybe. I don’t know. I’m not very cognizant about what’s going on out there about my work. I guess it’s very good that these people decided to remix my work. You can’t do something by trying to figure out how it’s going to be received. You don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. That’s what’s exciting about [Yes, I’m a Witch]. I just usually concentrate on what I’m doing, and I do my best. So I don’t look into any other corner of the world about it.

Have you ever made a conscious effort to avoid reading any stories or interviews about your work, or do you just not really care?
Well, sometimes I read them and sometimes I don’t. I don’t read the interviews that I did, but I read reviews sometimes.

Why don’t you read the interviews?
Because I already know what I said. But the reviews I read I tend to get upset about [laughs].

When you were making music, starting in the 1960s, did you feel as though you were ahead of your time?
I didn’t think I was ahead of the time. I thought that being me created trouble for myself, and it wasn’t received well. But I didn’t think my music would come back now — how would anybody think about that?

Some writers’ negative criticism makes you mad. What angers you in particular?
They think they know what they’re talking about and they don’t. It frustrates me when they’re not necessarily criticizing my work so much as they’re thinking of me as someone who is unacceptable. I think, “How do they know?” But that’s about it.

Do you think of yourself as primarily a musician, an artist, or both?
Both.

Who’s creative work do you most admire?
I admire most creative people and most creative efforts because I like the idea that they’re doing something. Even if it’s crap, I like the idea that they’re doing something. It’s good that artists are doing something in the peace industry. I think there are two industries in the world: the war industry and the peace industry. They tend to be very critical of each other in the peace industry. In the war industry, they know what they’re doing. They don’t even have to discuss anything. They just know. They unify. They just go and bomb. But with the peace industry, people are very selective and particular. I think it’ll be great if we start to understand how important it is that people are in the peace industry rather than for, well, murder. It’s good to recognize and respect each other and compliment each other. We need more compliments.

What bands or musicians are you listening to right now?
I’m just listening to the music in my mind. I’m kind of going back to my studio, so most of it is music that’s swirling in my head. The most recent one I listened to — and this is not to plug it or anything — is my son’s [Sean Lennon’s] Friendly Fire. I thought it was great.

What are you most proud of?
Proud is not the word. I’m thankful that I’m still alive. I have pride because I’ve survived.

What’s the biggest challenge that you’ve faced in your life?
The Second World War. It was a pretty difficult time, but at the same time, it was the only life I knew. It taught me a lot about life and gave me a lot of insight.

I think you seem much younger than 74. How do you feel about age?
It depends on how you feel about yourself. I never felt I was old, and I think that that has a lot to do with it. This is kind of a social stigma. Society makes you feel that once you reach a certain age, you have to dress or be a certain way, but that’s not what I think at all.

What are your goals?
I don’t have a goal. The future’s an open book, which is good. That helps a lot. I still dream about it.