The jaunty piano-based ‘Mr Hyde’s Gone (Don’t Be Afraid)’ was recorded by John Lennon at his home in the Dakota building, New York City, in 1980.
The chord structure, melody and vocal phrasings recall the songwriting style of Harry Nilsson, with whom Lennon had collaborated in 1974. The lyrics, meanwhile, recall Robert Louis Stevenson’s 19th century novella The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, with a typical amount of Dakota-style domestic bliss thrown in.
Lennon never recorded ‘Mr Hyde’s Gone (Don’t Be Afraid)’ in the studio, so it is unclear what he intended to do with it. Possibly it was meant simply to amuse his son Sean or a love song for Yoko Ono.
Given time, could well have formed the basis of a more complete work. Sadly we may never know what his intentions were. The song was issued on the fourth disc of the box set John Lennon Anthology in 1998.
