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Why do you think these remixes are so popular? Do you think it only has to do with the music itself, or do you think there's a different feeling about you now, personally ?

I think the success has to do with rise of indie bands and indie songwriters. They're independent-spirited people who don't conform to the way the record companies want them to make music -- they have that rebellious spirit.

I was part of it a long time ago, that attitude. Remember that I wasn't just an avant-garde artist, but I was making music, too. I was sent to a school with early music education. The first song I wrote, I was 4 or 5-years-old. And my early things were a little avant-garde, so they didn't really take, but now it's taking.

Did you learn anything about your own songs from these interpretations?

Well, I think they're musically quite interesting -- they were very kind, actually. Instead of the very far-out, avant-garde songs, most of them took songs that they could make popular. I thought that was very considerate. That on "Revelations," Cat Power used my lyrics instead of stepping on them. Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) has such a beautiful voice, but he kept my voice on this version of "Toyboat." Each one wasn't making some ego trip, they were really showing respect for my work. I really appreciated that as a fellow songwriter.

Did any of the songs they chose to work with surprise you?

When the Flaming Lips came to me and said they wanted to do "Cambridge 1969," I said, "OK, but how can you do that?" I thought that was very daring, but they did an incredible job putting that stamp on the CD, saying it starts from this point on.

With "Shiranakatta," Craig Armstrong used the Japanese verse -- because there are verses in that song in French, English and Japanese. I thought that was a nice message, that it's alright to be showing your roots like that. These are different times -- when I came out, you couldn't even say that I had an Asian accent, it would have been a little embarrassing. They would say, "She doesn't know how to put English words together," -- I thought, what are you talking about? I was just emphasizing different words because it was funkier that way.

Even though times have changed, as you say, what do you think is the biggest misconception of your work at this point?

That I was Mrs. Lennon, who never had any experience in music, can't sing a note or write a note. I listen to these CDs and the songs are pretty good. I'm one of those artists who is not very modest. If I was, I would have disappeared 30 years ago -- I was under attack from all directions, they tried to crush my identity, and I only survived because I believed in my work.

How do you think that the whole idea of remixing relates to the art community you came from in the 1950s and '60s?

I was an avant-garde musician, and back then an avant-garde musician couldn't put a record out, or even play in a decent hall. So the first record I did with John was "Two Virgins" -- and I snuck in this title, "Unfinished Music Number One." The second record was "Life With the Lions," and that was "Unfinished Music Number Two."

That whole idea of "unfinished" was very important to me because you can get other people to put their creativity on something. In the art field, I sent up that same message of unfinished sculpture and painting, at something like the Indica show (the 1966 London gallery show at which she first met Lennon). The idea that it's untouchable is this ego game that a lot of artists have -- but things change, and you can change them. So I think this is the fruition of that, of the spirit from that time.

The point is, I totally forgot that attitude. When John died, people came to me asking to finish or to remix "Walking on Thin Ice," and I said, "You can't even touch one note," -- of course, it was a very special memory for me, John was holding that cassette when he died and all that. But I totally forgot that beautiful spirit.

Then I was creating the "Blueprint for a Sunrise" album in 2001, and they asked about this idea of remixing, and I was in a creative mood, so I said OK. One day in the studio, they said, "Do you want to listen?" I wasn't that keen on it, but they played me the remix of "Open Your Box" by Orange Factory, and I started crying -- I couldn't believe they did this for me. It showed such appreciation for my work. I cried and cried, and that changed my whole perspective.

I was foolish to think, "Don't change one note." These are very creative people. If they're going to add something creative, I should be thankful. I was very arrogant in the beginning, and that was all mixed up with my private life and everything that happened. I forgot that the first thing I came out with was "unfinished music." I'm so thankful it just happened -- that it happened in a way that I had to just say yes.

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Alan Light is the former editor-in-chief of Spin, Vibe and Tracks magazines and a former senior writer at Rolling Stone. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, GQ and Entertainment Weekly. His book "The Skills to Pay the Bills: The Story of the Beastie Boys" was published in 2006. Alan is a two-time winner of the ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music writing.