Yoko Ono - Walking On Thin Ice b/w It Happened (1981) - single

"Walking On Thin Ice" is a New Wave/dance 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. Lennon's lead guitar work on the track, which he recorded on 8 December 1980, was his final creative act. At the end of January 1981, "Walking on Thin Ice" was released as a single and became Ono's first chart success in the US and gaining major club/underground scene. 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. Much like the A-side, the lyrics have a new 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.

A - Walking On Thin Ice (5:58)
Writer (s): Yoko Ono / Produced by: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jack Douglas
B - It Happened  (5:06)
Writer (s): Yoko Ono / Produced by: John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jack Douglas

Label:  Geffen Records
Genre:  New Wave, Dance
Catalog#  GEF 79202