Walking on Thin Ice

"Walking on Thin Ice"
Single by Yoko Ono
B-side	"It Happened"
Released	6 February 1981 (US) 20 February 1981 (UK) 25 March 2003 (remix)
Recorded	4–8 December 1980
Genre	Dance,[1] post-disco,[1] new wave[1]
Length	6:00
Label	Geffen
Songwriter(s)	Yoko Ono
Producer(s)	John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jack Douglas
Yoko Ono singles chronology
"Beautiful Boys" (1980) "Walking on Thin Ice" (1981) "No, No, No" (1981)
"Yang Yang" (2002) "Walking on Thin Ice" (2003) "Will I" / "Fly" (2003)
"Hold Me" (2013) "Walking on Thin Ice" (2013) "Angel" (2014)
Alternative cover
The cover of ONO's "Walking on Thin Ice" 2003 remix single.

"Walking on Thin Ice" is a song by Yoko Ono, released in 1981. She and John Lennon concluded the recording of the song on December 8, 1980. It was upon their return from the recording studio to The Dakota (their home in New York City) that Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman. Lennon was clutching a tape of a final mix when he was shot.

The song was both a critical and commercial success.

Background[]

Lennon's lead guitar work on the track, which he recorded on 4 December 1980, was his final creative act.^[2] He used his famous Beatles era 1958 Rickenbacker 325 to record all the guitar parts. This is the first time that he used the guitar on a studio recording since 1964/65.^{[citation needed]} At the end of January 1981, "Walking on Thin Ice" was released as a single and became Ono's first chart success, peaking at number 58 in the US and gaining major club/underground airplay. The single was released in February 1981 in the UK and reached number 35 on the chart. The critical reception was favorable: NME rated it in the best tracks of year 1981 at number 10.^[3] The lyrics talk of the unpredictability of life and death — of "throwing the dice in the air" — and reach the conclusion, "when our hearts return to ashes, it will be just a story....". On the version included on 1992's Onobox, a new intro was added, where John Lennon can be heard remarking "I think you just cut your first number one, Yoko."

The B-side, "It Happened", was a slower, mellow track about acceptance from Ono's vaults that was originally recorded for A Story and had already seen limited release in Japan as the B-side to "Yume O Moto", but was remixed for inclusion on the single.^[4] Much like the A-side, the lyrics have a retrospectively haunting quality given Lennon's murder: "It happened at a time of my life/When I least expected... And I know there's no return, no way". In the essay on the back of the single, Ono talks about how Lennon picked out this track from her old tapes and marked it as a hit. She said "No way!" to which he responded "I'll make it a hit". He was murdered hours later.

The song is also included on the experimental compilation album called Disco Not Disco (2000). In 2003, riding on the success of several Ono club remixes including "Open Your Box" and "Kiss Kiss Kiss", "Walking on Thin Ice" was released as a maxi-single with remixes by dance artists including the Pet Shop Boys, Danny Tenaglia and Felix Da Housecat. It spent many weeks on the US dance chart before reaching number one, beating Madonna and Justin Timberlake. In the UK, it reached number 35 on the chart, exactly the same position as the original reached in 1981.

Music videos[]

Yoko Ono herself directed a music video for "Walking on Thin Ice" which was released in February 1981. In 2003 Mike Mills and Arya Senboutaraj (one half of the directing duo Rainbows & Vampires) directed an animated black and white video featuring the "Pet Shop Boys Electro Mix Edit" of the song.

Track listings[]

1981[]

Promo 7" single^[5]

• A. "Walking on Thin Ice" (edit) – 3:23
• B. "Walking on Thin Ice" (long version) – 5:58

7" / 12" single

• A. "Walking on Thin Ice" – 5:59
• B. "It Happened" (Remix) – 5:08

Promo 12" / Cassingle

• A. "Walking on Thin Ice" – 5:59
• B1. "It Happened" (Remix) – 5:08
• B2. "Hard Times Are Over" – 3:26

2003[]

2007[]

1. "Walking on Thin Ice" (with Jason Pierce of Spiritualized) – 5:07
2. "Toyboat" (with Antony of Antony and the Johnsons and Hahn Rowe) – 4:24

2013[]

Awards and Nominations[]

Charts[]

Covers[]

• Elvis Costello and The Attractions (ft. the TKO Horns) recorded a version on the album Every Man Has a Woman (1984).
• We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It (aka Fuzzbox) released as at single in 1989, peaked at #76 in the UK charts.
• The Picketts also recorded a version,^[14] (1985) as did Tila Tequila on her EP Welcome to the Dark Side (2010).
• Siouxsie Sioux performed it live with original guitarist Earl Slick and tabla player Talvin Singh, at Ono's Meltdown Festival in London in 2013.^[15]

See also[]

• List of number-one dance singles of 2003 (U.S.)
• List of number-one dance singles of 2013 (U.S.)
• List of post-disco artists and songs

References[]