that in the first verse of "Instant Karma!", Lennon employs sarcasm as he urges the listener to "Get yourself together / Pretty soon you're gonna be dead" and emphasises "It's up to you – yeah, you!" Norman comments on the "hippie catchphrase of the moment" contained in this instruction to "Get yourself together", and he says that the warning of imminent death is "obviously not to be taken literally." Author Mark Hertsgaard cites the lines "Why in the world are we here / Surely not to live in pain and fear?" as a further example of Lennon "asking what purpose his life on earth was to serve," after his 1966 composition "Strawberry Fields Forever". According to Urish and Bielen, "Instant Karma!" conveys the need to recognise and act upon a shared responsibility for the wellbeing of humankind; the karmic rewards of this mindset are available to all, as implied in Lennon's exhortation to "Come and get your share". The same authors pair the song with Lennon's and Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" single from 1971, in terms of how the song "both prods and challenges listeners before providing reassurance." As with "Give Peace a Chance" and "Power to the People" – Lennon singles from 1969 and 1971 – the chorus has an anthem-like quality, as he sings: "We all shine on, like the moon and the stars and the sun." Norman describes the chorus as Lennon restating his message of "peace campaigning and non-violent, optimistic togetherness." According to Lennon biographer John Blaney, the song is an appeal "for mankind to take responsibility for its fate" and represents "Lennon developing his own brand of egalitarianism." Recording Although still officially a member of the Beatles, Lennon had privately announced his departure from the band in September 1969. He was keen to issue "Instant Karma!" immediately as a single, the third under his and Ono's Plastic Ono Band moniker. The recording session took place at EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios) in north-west London, on the evening of 27 January. Lennon's fellow musicians at the session were Harrison, Klaus Voormann, Alan White, and Billy Preston – all of whom had performed at the December 1969 Peace for Christmas Concert, as part of the Plastic Ono Supergroup. The recording engineer for "Instant Karma!" was EMI mainstay Phil McDonald. Spector produced the session, arriving late after Harrison had found him at Apple's office and