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John Lennon or Paul McCartney—who wrote that song?

John Lennon or Paul McCartney—who wrote that song?
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Most Beatles songs are credited to “Lennon–McCartney.” In other words, they’re collaborations between John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

However, they weren’t always entirely co-written.

Today, I’ll talk about that.

Their roles varied from song to song.

People who aren’t very familiar with the Beatles might think that anything credited to Lennon–McCartney was co-written by the two of them.

Indeed, in the early days, it was often really just the two of us working with our heads together.

“She Loves You,” for example, is a classic case of that.

But in practice, the two people's roles varied depending on the song.

While there are many tracks that were created entirely by a single person, it seems that in the early days they often worked in a style where one would create the original and the other would support it.

Amid their killer schedule, they kept their pens moving, diligently creating even in hotel rooms and while on the move.

Moreover, they were not only creating music for their own performances, but also producing a large number of songs on commission to provide to other musicians.

However, in the later period, most of the songs were made by just one person.

Why did it become Lennon–McCartney?

In the first place, the decision to use the Lennon–McCartney credit was something the two of them agreed upon back when they were still teenagers, around 15 or 16 years old.

Jerome Leiber and Mike Stoller formed the duo “Leiber & Stoller” and created numerous historically significant classics that have endured, such as “Hound Dog” and “Stand by Me,” and this was inspired by them.

However, unlike Lennon–McCartney, Stoller handled composition while Leiber handled lyrics, with a clear division of labor.

Lennon–McCartney both handled both lyrics and composition.

When we were making our professional debut, the three of us—our manager Brian Epstein, John, and Paul—discussed how to handle the credits.

While John insisted on "Lennon and McCartney," Paul suggested, "How about 'McCartney and Lennon'?"

John also agreed at one point to compromise and accept the proposal to put the name of the primary creator first.

However, that ended up being left vague, and in the end it was standardized as Lennon–McCartney.

It seems John pushed it through because “Lennon–McCartney” sounded better, the spelling puts L before M, and the rhythm was nicer.

But the real reason is probably that John was older than Paul and was the leader (lol).

a clearly defined song

  1. Co-written: From Me to You, I Want to Hold Your Hand, etc.
  2. Mainly produced by one person — A Hard Day’s Night, Drive My Car, etc.
  3. Produced alone — including tracks like “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane.”

In the case of the Beatles, it wasn’t always consistent, but there was an unwritten rule that the main composer would take the lead vocal.

So as long as we know who the main vocalist is, we can generally make a judgment.

However, there are some songs that are unclear.

Ambiguous song

Ticket to Ride (Tearful Boarding Pass)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DppyI-SnKwo

In an interview near the end of his life, John claimed that he was the one who mainly wrote this song.

This track is one of the early heavy metal–type records. Paul’s contribution was about on par with Ringo’s drumming.

Meanwhile, Paul claims that he wrote this song in collaboration with John.

We wrote this song together. If you listen to the record, you can tell—John sings the melody and I add the harmony. Even when we co-wrote songs, we often performed them that way. Since John sang this one, people might think he wrote 60% of it. There was a lot we had to do, but it turned into a really good song. We sat down together to start writing, but John didn’t chime in all that much. It took a good three hours to write. By the time the song was finished, the lyrics and harmonies were mostly done—except for a few small parts.

The two sides’ arguments are in direct conflict with each other.

It’s certain that one of us is misremembering or mistaken, but at this point we don’t know which one is correct.

In My Life

John says he made most of it himself, and Paul helped with the middle eight (the B section).

Paul, on the other hand, says that John had only finished the beginning of the lyrics, and that he took over and wrote most of the rest himself.

I remember writing all the melodies. Even when I analyze it, I think it’s unmistakably my kind of song. I wrote the lyrics too, of course, but the structure of the song is really typical of me. I recall telling John, “Why don’t you have some tea and take a break? Give me ten minutes and I’ll finish it myself.” So this song was made from John’s inspiration, with my melody and guitar riff. I don’t want to say it too definitively, but that’s how I remember it. It was a lovely song we finished together, and John was the one who sang it.

One After 909

Although this song was officially released on the 1970 album Let It Be, it had already been completed sometime before The Beatles made their major debut, though the exact timing is unclear.

Paul claims he co-produced this song based on John's idea.

He explained that he tried to write in the style of songs about American railroads, which could be considered musical heroes to them.

I have this great memory of John and me trying to write a bluesy freight-train song. Back then there were lots of good ones like Midnight Special, Freight Train, and Rock Island Line. That’s how we came up with One After 909. The idea was that she wouldn’t take the 909, she’d catch the next train. To be honest, I wasn’t thinking of British railways—I had the Omaha Super Chief in mind (the transcontinental American train that used to run from Chicago to Los Angeles).

However, John says he produced it by himself.

I wrote this when I was 17 or 18. We usually wrote songs separately, but sometimes we wrote together too—because it was fun. People often said to us, “You two keep turning out albums and songs one after another, just like you’re working together.”

Elina Rigby

Paul has said that he wrote about 80% of the lyrics to this song, while John contributed around 20%.

However, John claims that he wrote 70% of the lyrics.

(A memorial statue of Eleanor Rigby in Liverpool)

In the lyrics, “Father McKenzie” appears, but John suggested they should make it “Father McCartney.”

However, since “Father McCartney” would literally mean Paul’s own father, Paul understandably objected.

So we pulled out the phone book together, found the name Mackenzie, and adopted it.

After the breakup of the Beatles

When the documentary series Anthology, which recounts the history of the Beatles—including albums produced after the band’s breakup—was released in 1996, Paul suggested that the main composer’s name should be listed first.

However, he was refused by Yoko (John had already passed away), and his wish did not come true.

When the media reported that Paul wanted to change the credits, some critics accused him of trying to take credit for John’s work now that John had passed away.

While I can understand Paul’s feeling that, for songs he created on his own, at least his name should come first, it’s difficult to prove now, half a century later.

Even if it could be proven, changing the platinum credit of “Lennon–McCartney,” which has shone brilliantly around the world for so long, would only cause confusion now—and there’s no need to do so.

John is credited the same way even for songs he made by himself, so isn’t it fine to just leave it as is?