I'm Stepping Out
{{Short description|1984 single by John Lennon}}
{{Infobox song
| name = I'm Stepping Out
| cover = File:John-lennon-im-stepping-out-polydor-3-s.jpg
| caption = US picture sleeve
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = John Lennon
| album = Milk and Honey
| B-side = "Sleepless Night" (Yoko Ono)
| released = *{{Start date|1984|03|15|df=y}} (US){{cite web|url=https://www.johnlennon.com/music/singles/im-stepping-out/|title=John Lennon official site}}
- 13 July 1984 (UK){{cite web|url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1984/Music-Week-1984-07-07.pdf|title=Music Week|page=16}}
| recorded = 6 August 1980
| studio =
| genre = Rock
| length = 4:05
| label = Polydor
| writer = John Lennon
| producer = *John Lennon
| prev_title = Borrowed Time
| prev_year = 1984
| next_title = Every Man Has a Woman Who Loves Him
| next_year = 1984
}}
"I'm Stepping Out" is the third and last single{{Cite web|title=I'm Stepping Out/Sleepless Nights - John Lennon & Yoko Ono|url=http://www.johnlennon.com/music/singles/im-stepping-out/|access-date=2020-07-23|website=John Lennon|language=en-GB}} from the final John Lennon and Yoko Ono album Milk and Honey. In it, Lennon celebrates his enthusiasm for the night life of New York City, and makes tongue-in-cheek reference to his "househusband" period. It reached {{thinspace|No.|88}} in the UK Singles chart, and in the US it peaked at {{thinspace|No.|55}} in the US Billboard Hot 100[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=john lennon|chart=all}} John Lennon's Top 10 Albums & Singles | Billboard] and number 57 on the Cashbox Top 100.{{cite book|last=Blaney|first=John|title=John Lennon: Listen to This Book|year=2005|publisher=Paper Jukebox|location=[S.l.]|isbn=978-0-9544528-1-0|edition=illustrated|page=326}}
The B-side features Ono's "Sleepless Night."
Recording
"I'm Stepping Out" was the first song to be recorded when the sessions for Double Fantasy/Milk and Honey began at The Hit Factory in New York City on 7 August 1980.{{cite book |last1=Madinger |first1=Chip |last2=Raile |first2=Scott |title=LENNONOLOGY Strange Days Indeed - A Scrapbook Of Madness |year= 2015 |publisher= Chesterfield, MO: Open Your Books, LLC |pages=519–520 |isbn= 978-1-63110-175-5}}
Reception
Cash Box said that the song "was a celebration for Lennon — to escape from the mundane lifestyle of a house-husband — and it is also a musical celebration for the listener which exhibits Lennon's innate talent for articulating universal emotions on three-and-a-half minutes of vinyl."{{cite magazine|title=Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1984/CB-1984-03-31.pdf|date=March 31, 1984|accessdate=2022-07-23|page=9}} Cash Box also commented on the "accessible lyrics and a tight chorus that Lennon sings with abandon" and noted that the prologue and ending express Lennon's "witty side."
Muriel Gray at Smash Hits said, "For an extraordinary man, John Lennon managed to write a lot of very ordinary material before he died. This is basic and dull, it barely merits criticism."{{cite journal|author=Muriel Gray|title=Singles|journal=Smash Hits|issue=19 July 1984|page=23}}
Personnel
This is the personnel as said.{{Cite web|last=April 2011|first=GniknuS Friday 22|date=2010-08-23|title=I'm Stepping Out|url=https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/im-stepping-out/|access-date=2020-07-23|website=The Beatles Bible|language=en-GB}}
- John Lennon – vocals, rhythm guitar
- Earl Slick, Hugh McCracken – lead guitar
- Tony Levin – bass guitar
- George Small – keyboards
- Andy Newmark – drums
- Arthur Jenkins – percussion
References
{{Reflist}}
{{John Lennon singles}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Songs written by John Lennon
Category:Songs released posthumously
Category:Song recordings produced by John Lennon
Category:Song recordings produced by Yoko Ono
Category:Polydor Records singles
Category:Songs about New York City
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