Still the Greatest: The Essential Solo Beatles Songs. Lennon and McCartney: together alone : a critical discography of their solo work.
"Cleanup Time" began recording at the Hit Factory in New York City on 13 August 1980. Tim Riley remarks that the song works on two levels: "a playfully gentle gibe at household chores" and as "an adult song about addiction." Recording Īccording to author Andrew Jackson, "Cleanup Time" and " Woman" represent "the happy ending fade out of a bohemian It's a Wonderful Life," as the troubled young Lennon had found peace as a father and husband.
The lyrics also reflect Lennon's happiness being at home and being free of many obligations, such as recording contracts. The song explicitly references that the king is baking bread, and Lennon was particularly proud of baking bread himself. Lennon had become a househusband while Ono was taking care of the couple's finances. The song, like Lennon's Beatles' song " Cry Baby Cry," incorporates elements of the nursery rhyme " Sing a Song of Sixpence." In the case of "Cleanup Time," the references to the king being in the kitchen and the queen counting the money may be autobiographical references. Īlthough Lennon claimed that the lyrics apply to people in general, and not specifically to the Lennons, the song does reflect the reality of the Lennons cleaning up their diets and their finances, as well as their drug habits, and reports on what the previous five years away from recording meant to the Lennons. Lennon has described the song as "a piano lick, with the words added." After developing the piano lick and having the title, Lennon wrote the words around a conception of the Lennon's home, The Dakota, being metaphorically their Palace of Versailles. The two discussed the 1970s and how people were cleaning up their alcohol and drug habits, and the conversation ended with Douglas stating that "Well, it's cleanup time, right" and Lennon responding "It sure is." Lennon was then inspired to start playing a boogie on the piano, and wrote "Cleanup Time" in the process. It was inspired by a phone discussion Lennon had with Jack Douglas, who would become the producer of Double Fantasy, while Lennon was staying in Bermuda. Lennon wrote the song in Bermuda in June 1980. So, here are the best renditions of clean-up songs for pre-schoolers to listen to the next time you’re ambitious enough to take part in some messy fun.Like some other songs on Double Fantasy, including the hit single " (Just Like) Starting Over," one of the themes of "Cleanup Time" is rebirth, and another theme, as with " Watching the Wheels" is Lennon "coming to terms with his quiet years," during which Lennon was a househusband and Yoko Ono looked after the couple's business interests. You need some clean-up song alternatives. On top of that, maybe they just didn’t like the clean-up song they learned in daycare or school or whatever. You don’t want them to get sick of a specific cleaning song though, and part of the fun is the novelty.
Luckily, you (try) and delegate the post-activity clean-up to your children! And, even if you end-up singing the clean-up song while you do most of the actual cleaning-up, kids will learn that helping out can be as fun as singing a little song. The imminent clean-up was always lingering in the back of your mind throughout all the fun, unbeknownst to your kid. This is why you need some clean-up songs. But once the frosting is dried, the cityscape built, the game won, then the real clean-up work begins. You and your kids may have been having the time of your lives baking a three-tier cake, building a monster-sized Lego set, or playing a tw0-hour game of Monopoly. Getting toddlers and pre-schoolers to clean-up isn’t easy.