"Watching Rainbows" is an unreleased song by the Beatles recorded on 14 January 1969 during the Get Back sessions at Twickenham Studios. It features John Lennon on lead vocal and electric piano, Paul McCartney on electric guitar, and Ringo Starr on drums. No bass guitar was present as McCartney was filling in for the absent George Harrison, who had temporarily left the group at that stage of the sessions. The song is played in two chords and has since been compared to "I Am the Walrus" and "I've Got a Feeling" for the similarities in the song's lyrics and structure.
A riff from the song was integrated into the Plastic Ono Band song "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)", which was released later in 1969.
Composition and background
"Watching Rainbows" is an improvised song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was never officially released and circulates only through bootlegs. The performance was recorded on 14 January 1969 at Twickenham Film Studios during the early Get Back sessions, when the Beatles were being filmed for what would become the Let It Be documentary.
Several related works were explored on the same day, including Lennon's "Mean Mr. Mustard" and the unreleased "Madman", though all three pieces were ultimately abandoned after a handful of run-throughs.
Musically and structurally, "Watching Rainbows" has been associated with McCartney's "I've Got a Feeling", released on Let It Be in 1970.
Overall, "Watching Rainbows" offers insight into Lennon's mid-January creative approach, blending spontaneous lyric invention with familiar musical motifs from both his Beatles-era and later solo work.
Reception
In a negative review, author Richie Unterberger dismissed it as "uninteresting" and "chunky", furthermore calling the track a "throw-away".
Personnel
According to Kenneth Womack:
- John Lennon – electric piano, lead vocals
- Paul McCartney – lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums