The Beatles released their last song “Now and Then” in early November. It’s a good match tonally, as the song is very wistful and melancholic in a way that seems fitting for winter and end-of-the-year reflections. It was also a smart move for stats, giving “Now and Then” a chance to break records — which it’s still doing — before the Christmas catalogues started dominating the charts. With this new, final Beatles record, Paul McCartney is naturally thinking about his time in the band, and of course John Lennon, who wrote and recorded the first demo for “Now and Then.” On his McCartney: A Life in Lyrics podcast this week, Paul noted how grateful he is that he and John had come together (yes, I did that) again as friends before John’s untimely death.
Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s tumultuous relationship has been a sore spot since The Beatles broke up, and now, McCartney is contemplating the possibilities of what would have happened had the pair not rekindled their friendship.
McCartney, 81, opened up about the “what ifs” surrounding the situation in the Wednesday, Dec. 6, episode of iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin Industries’ new podcast, McCartney: A Life in Lyrics.
In it, he described the pair’s reconciliation as being “super, super painful,” noting that he was “glad” he was able to mend the friendship before Lennon was murdered in 1980.
“It was super, super painful,” McCartney shared. “In the end, there was something I was very glad of when he got murdered, was that I had had some really good times with him before that happened.”
“It would have been the worst thing in the world… Had he just been killed and we still had a bad relationship. I would have just thought, ‘Oh, I should have, I should have, I should have,’” he continued. “That would have been a big guilt trip for me.”
In 1969, Lennon privately told the band we would be departing in an angry letter. It wasn’t until a year later that the rift between McCartney and Lennon — which was primarily based in a divergence of creative opinions — became public knowledge and officially led to the Beatles’ break up.
At the time, many fans blamed Lennon’s wife Yoko Ono for driving a wedge between the band members, however McCartney has previously addressed this rumor, vehemently denying that Ono was at all involved in the artists’ decision to disband.
Oh man, something in the way (yes, I did it again) Paul describes “I should have, I should have, I should have,” gives me chills. That fear is so relatable. And yeah, that would have been so brutal on Paul if things had been left heated and unresolved when John was murdered. They weren’t romantic partners, but they were involved in a deeply dynamic, creative, world-changing relationship. If they hadn’t begun even the barest of a rapprochement, Paul would’ve had to carry that weight (last one, I swear) for the rest of his life. I guess Paul’s holiday gift to us is the reminder to make peace with those we love, cause we don’t know the time any of us have. (Ugh, I hate it when cheeseball sentiments are proven true! Can’t the world leave me to my sass and sarcasm?!)
photos credit: STARSTOCK/Photoshot / Avalon, Public Address Presseagentur / Avalon, SKR-LONDON FEATURES / Avalon and Getty
Paul is in it for Paul. He never had John’s talent. Still using him all these years later. I know this is unpopular opinion but not a Paul fan. Also, what he did to Yoko was dreadful.
Oh, I’ll bite – what did he do to Yoko?
Should he not talk about John then?
Different talents, both incredible.
I’m also interested to hear what he ‘did to Yoko’.
John Lennon disagreed with you. In his final interview, published in “Rolling Stone,” he said this:
“Throughout my career, I’ve selected to work with — for more than a one-night stand, say, with David Bowie or Elton John — only two people: Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono. I brought Paul into the original group, the Quarrymen; he brought George in and George brought Ringo in. And the second person who interested me as an artist and somebody I could work with was Yoko Ono. That ain’t bad picking.”
It’s not necessary to bash McCartney to be a Lennon fan, or vice versa.
This is a wild take. Paul is immensely, immensely talented.
@Laura No, you can’t be right about Paul being immensely talented. Haven’t you noticed that since John’s been gone, Paul hasn’t written any more music and he’s just faded into obscurity? 🙄
Maybe Incandescent and Dog-shit Dad should contemplate making up with Harry before anything bad happens.
they’d have to have a conscience & be self-aware for them to have any regrets for not reconciling if something happens to Harry. Of course, if they had a conscience or were self-aware, they wouldn’t be doing most of the crappy things they’re doing to stir up animus against Harry
He’s talked about their last conversation (on the phone, not long before John was killed) and what stuck with me was him saying how ordinary it was. I remember he said one thing they talked about was baking bread. Just a friendly chat, nothing profound, both fully believing they’d talk again soon. Make peace folks, you never know.
I watched all of the very long Get Back documentary about the making of that album. It was clear that there was a deep love between John and Paul. But it was also clear that John had a heroin problem that was difficult to work with. Yoko had nothing to do with the break up. She just sat around and hung out.
Agree to most of this, I think there was some frustration that they weren’t able to work one on one for hours anymore. But they all recognized that was John’s choice… that’s even spoken of explicitly in that film. (So it’s not on Yoko … personally I found MLH much more of a disruptive, fractious presence with his constantly badgering them about going to Libya or whatever other grandiose ideas he had… granted PJ and his team were making their own editorial choices with what they included)
But it is obvious they had a very loving, creatively productive relationship. I think it was John who later likened it to family, that there could be big blow ups, but you were still family and would come back around and reconnect.
Both John and Paul are incredibly talented, different enough to spur each other on, and complement/ contrast with each other in artistically interesting ways. We were all lucky to have that partnership come together and last as long as it did.
Yea I think there was actually more tension between George and the rest of the group at that time as he felt his songwriting was not being valued. But instead of sticking up for himself he was just so passive aggressive. They were all so strung out on different drugs but Ringo was the peacemaker who always kept a level head.
I once saw an interview clip of all 4 Beatles in the early days. John was saying things and he kept looking at Paul to see if he was laughing. Paul looked distressed though and wasn’t really participating. You can see John first looking confused and then concerned. Turns out Paul had some kind of stomach flu and they had to cancel the gig that night. I think of that clip when I think about John and Paul together. They became best friends as teenagers and formed a creative partnership that literally changed the world. The Beatles were all like brothers together and I’m glad that John and Paul were in a good place when John was murdered.
Here’s the clip: https://youtu.be/LXZ2vAzJa4M?si=YYRfw9zvxboOKQ1G
I hadn’t seen that one! Thanks!
Although Yoko has carried the blame for years, I’m pretty sure the name and occupation of the tartlet that ruined the band, the one whose winking energy broke up the bffs John and Paul, was called RITA, and she was the local METER MAID.
Tho to hear her tell it, it was definitely a sofa 🛋️ sitting sister or two.
Brilliantly written!
Paul and John’s love was magnificent and gave us a slew of tremendous songs, so much gorgeous music came from that bond. I am glad that Celebitchy gives the Beatles some coverage, they are my favorite band of all time.
Paul’s a more forgiving person than I – if I’d been through the character assassination that John put him through in the 70’s, I would have never forgiven nor spoken to him again. But all the Beatles admit “that was John” – he was a bastard and you put up with it because he was a charismatic guy. I’m glad Paul is at peace with his memory.