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"Instant Karma!" – sometimes referred to as "Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" – is a song written by English musician John Lennon, released as a single on Apple Records in February 1970. In the UK, the single was credited to "Lennon/Ono with the Plastic Ono Band". The song reached the top five in the British and American singles charts, competing with the Beatles' "Let It Be" in America, where it became the first solo single by a member of the band to sell a million copies. "Instant Karma!" was written, recorded and released within a period of ten days, making it one of the fastest-released songs in pop music history. The recording was produced by Phil Spector, marking a comeback for the American producer after his self-imposed retirement in 1966, and leading to him being offered the producer's role on the Beatles' ''Let It Be'' album (1970). Recorded at London's Abbey Road Studios, "Instant Karma!" employs Spector's signature Wall of Sound technique and features contributions from George Harrison, Billy Preston, Klaus Voormann and Alan White. The B-side was a song composed and performed by Yoko Ono, titled "Who Has Seen the Wind?" Recently shorn of the long hair synonymous with their 1969 campaign for world peace, Lennon and Ono promoted the single with an appearance on Britain's ''Top of the Pops''. "Instant Karma!" has appeared on many Lennon compilations, including ''Shaved Fish'' (1975), ''Lennon Legend'' (1997) and ''Power to the People: The Hits'' (2010). A version recorded at the "One to One" concerts in August 1972 was included on his posthumously released ''Live in New York City'' album (1986). The song continues to receive critical praise as one of the finest recordings from Lennon's solo career. Paul Weller, Duran Duran, and U2 are among the acts who have covered "Instant Karma!", the chorus of which inspired the title to Stephen King's 1977 novel ''The Shining''. ==Background== Together with his wife, Yoko Ono, John Lennon spent New Year 1970 in Aalborg, Denmark,〔Miles, p. 363.〕 establishing a relationship with Ono's former husband, artist Tony Cox, and visiting Cox and Ono's daughter Kyoko.〔Madinger & Easter, p. 33.〕 The visit coincided with the start of what Lennon termed "Year 1 AP (After Peace)",〔Miles, pp. 363–64.〕 following his and Ono's much-publicised Bed-Ins and other peace-campaign activities throughout 1969.〔Doggett, pp. 89–90.〕 To mark the new era,〔Woffinden, p. 39.〕 on 20 January 1970, the couple shaved off their shoulder-length hair, an act that Britain's ''Daily Mirror'' described as "the most sensational scalpings since the Red Indians went out of business".〔 Lennon and Ono pledged to auction the shorn hair for a charitable cause,〔Doggett, p. 118.〕 having similarly announced on 5 January〔 that they would donate all future royalties from their recordings to the peace movement.〔Miles, p. 364.〕 Also while in Denmark, the Lennons, Cox and the latter's current partner, Melinde Kendall, discussed the concept of "instant karma",〔 whereby the causality of one's actions is immediate rather than borne out over a lifetime.〔Rodriguez, pp. 8, 21.〕〔Urish & Bielen, pp. 15–16.〕 Author Philip Norman writes of the concept's appeal: "The idea was quintessential Lennon – the age-old Buddhist law of cause and effect turned into something as modern and synthetic as instant coffee and, simultaneously, into a bogey under the stairs that can get you if you don't watch out."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Instant Karma!」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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