Lost Footage Shows John Lennon Creating One Of His Most Iconic Songs

Newly-released footage from more than 50 years ago shows rock legend John Lennon working on an early version of “Give Peace A Chance.”

The May 25, 1969 recording from the Sheraton Oceanus Hotel in the Bahamas features the then-Beatle with his wife, Yoko Ono, singing the song’s famous chorus. Although the rest of the lyrics have hints about what will be in the finished version, much of it was quite different as Lennon tested out word combinations and had a little fun in the process:

Lennon and Ono had been planning to hold their second “Bed-In For Peace” at the hotel, but it was so hot they flew to Montreal and staged the event at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel from May 26 to June 1 instead. They recorded the most famous version of the song there.

The footage was just released to promote a box set coming out next week called “The John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band – The Ultimate Collection.”

This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.