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John Lennon's Beatles songs, or Paul McCartney's Beatles songs?
- Thread starter Jack Remington
- Start date
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Wasn't all their music billed as both names as far as writing credit? I think there was too much collaboration on most songs to make this distinction. The fact that I like Paul's solo stuff better than John's should be an indication, but John didn't exactly have the length of post Beatles writing time that Paul got.
Pretty impossible to choose, but i think i slightly prefer Paul.
It took me this video to truly understand the meaning of the song. Just beautiful really.I really like Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Spine_Ripper
Member
I've written and deleted two walls of text. I hate that I saw this right before going to bed.
That doesn't fit the heroin references I was told the song was about.
Funny aside, John hated Paul's weird, quirky songs and he left the studio during the recording of Maxwell's.
Spine_Ripper
Member
Even then though, if you were to compare Plastic One Band-Double Fantasy to McCartney-McCartney II/Tug of War, I think in general more people would choose Paul's work. John's solo stuff had a very stripped sound and dealt either with very personal lyrical content, specific political thoughts, or he just wrote nonsense for the sake of having a tune.
McCartney on the other hand, continued to grow as a musician. He continued writing for "the hits" and never got too personal with VERY few exceptions(funny how they're usually related to John). Similarly, he was trying different sounds. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey is a testament to that, hell, just listen to McCartney II. The first two tracks are nothing alike.
John made music he liked. Paul made music everyone liked.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
I like them all. I will not choose. I even like Ringo.
I love this song. I literally never really thought about the lyrics before. Wow.
Where are you getting heroin from? That is to say, where in the lyrics. Not where you actually buy your heroin from. Though you can share that too.That doesn't fit the heroin references I was told the song was about.
Jack Remington
Banned
All the songs were credited to Lennon/McCartney, but there are lots of songs where one of the two did 90-100% of the actual writing. For example, Yesterday is 100% a Paul McCartney song, but it's still credited to Lennon/McCartney. The two guys writing songs on mostly on their own became a lot more common after Rubber Soul. Prior to that they did actually write most of their stuff together.
I was told years ago that "maxwell's silver hammer" meant heroin injection. I would not be surprised at all if they were full of shit. I had a World Music teacher who was such a Beatles fan that his class on World Music might as well have been called Beatles class say that drug reference was bullshit, but I'm just saying what I had originally heard. I've been singing along to the song since the early 80's, before I knew anything about any drugs so it doesn't really matter if it did reference whatever.
That's how I feel reading through this thread too. George was always my favorite.
It's tough because I'm pretty sure A Day in the Life is my favorite song by them.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
My favourite Beatles songs are While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, Here Comes the Sun and Golden Slumber/Carry that Weight/The End, so....
I'd probably go with George despite Taxman being a horrid song.
I'd probably go with George despite Taxman being a horrid song.
John marring Yoko invalidated everything good he did. He caused this to happen.
Chuck Berry & (John Lennon and Yoko Ono) - http://youtu.be/h9kgu71d81U
Paul wins by default.
Chuck Berry & (John Lennon and Yoko Ono) - http://youtu.be/h9kgu71d81U
Paul wins by default.
The Real Abed
Perma-Junior
Every song is about drugs if you ask the right people.
Spine_Ripper
Member
I hope you know she essentially wrote a large amount of Because and Imagine. Yoko is surprisingly talented. Her most recent album was pretty good. I believe it actually has a higher metacritic score than Paul McCartney's newest album.
Throat singing shit is still terrible though. And yes I know you weren't serious
Those three songs are fun as hell. And at least they're not
Number nine.
Number nine.
Number nine.
Number nine.
I hope you know she essentially wrote a large amount of Because and Imagine. Yoko is surprisingly talented. Her most recent album was pretty good. I believe it actually has a higher metacritic score than Paul McCartney's newest album.
Throat singing shit is still terrible though. And yes I know you weren't serious
I hope you're not typing that with a straight face.
George wrote the fewest songs of the three, but had some genuinely top tier stuff.
I always found Paul's output to be more consistently great, John ended up with some pure fucking garbage towards the end, while the rest of the Beatles were getting more and more interesting.
The best comparison to me is the Yer Blues/Mother Nature's Son one two punch on the white album. MNS is a beautiful song preceded by a straight shit standard blues track. I love them all, but Paul and George wrote my favourites
I always found Paul's output to be more consistently great, John ended up with some pure fucking garbage towards the end, while the rest of the Beatles were getting more and more interesting.
The best comparison to me is the Yer Blues/Mother Nature's Son one two punch on the white album. MNS is a beautiful song preceded by a straight shit standard blues track. I love them all, but Paul and George wrote my favourites
brianjones
Member
theres a good book called Revolution in the Head that dissects the writing process of every single beatles track
really fun read
i can't remember most of who wrote what so i mostly base it on who sings lead vocal
paul mccartney saves that song with his bass line and guitar solo
the lyrics are pretty dumb
SpaceShark
Member
As someone said, it feels wrong to choose. In the past I definitely would've said Paul, but as the years have passed I have less tolerance for the super saccharine stuff. I dunno, maybe still Paul, but "I'm Only Sleeping" and "A Day in the Life" make me have second thoughts. "Glass Onion" though... ugh.
I'm on mobile right now, but just imagine an awesome animated brofist gif right here. Seriously. Brofist.
brianjones
Member
i dont agree, no
i love that the beatles covered a song called "boys"
the smiths originally covered a song called "i want a boy for my birthday" but backed out.. this was 20 years later
SpaceShark
Member
I don't listen to it as much as the later stuff, but nah, bro. Nah.
teruterubozu
Member
George Martin's orchestration, Ravi Shankar's wisdom and Albert Hoffman's LSD.
What?
The Beatles got fucking raped by tax in their early years. I guess you're not aware just how high tax was in the 60s for people who earned a large amount of money in the UK.
That's what the song is about.
brianjones
Member
yeah i get it .. i don't think the lyrics are very clever or thought provoking though
If you drive a car, I'll tax the street
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet
this is like nursery rhyme compared to what bob dylan was writing at the time
A lot of people on GAF would happily reinstitute a 90% tax rate on high earners so they probably disagree with the song.
The lyrics are pure sarcasm.
If you drive a car, I'll tax the street,
If you try to sit, I'll tax your seat.
If you get too cold I'll tax the heat,
If you take a walk, I'll tax your feet.
lol
I think the lyrics are brilliant. I mean, they were paying 95% tax, which is fucking absurd. This song was basically poking fun at it, in a sarcastic manner.
I don't know. If we're talking about solo popularity, John wins the period they were both alive for Imagine alone. Yes, Paul has Wings and something of a solo career, but I think it's unfair to say that any of the four Beatles didn't make music that a lot of people liked. We know the Beatles today because of their popularity.
I have some trouble sitting through some of the older albums but the highs of the early Beatles stuff are just as notable as the highs on the late records.
War Peaceman
You're a big guy.
Without getting into a tax discussion, it isn't absurd. More importantly it is incredibly uninteresting to hear wealthy people complain about their problems with having too much money. If it was better lyrically, I could look past the shitty message.
Truth.
Max Armstrong
Member
Anybody else listens to Wild Honey Pie in the car really loudly while screaming HONEY PIIIIIE?
I love that shit lol
I love that shit lol
Psychological Intellect
Banned
Paul has more consistency in his work since he wrote the more popular stuff, especially later on where he got more control and john started wanting to leave. There are some dips in john's work since he experimented a bit more, for better and worse but his highs were untouchable:
A Day In The Life
Help
Strawberry Fields
Don't Let Me Down(rooftop)
Happiness is a warm gun
Tomorrow Never Knows
I can go on,Macca doesn't have as many songs that can compare with John's best shit but Paul's best shit was also god tier: Yesterday, For No One, etc. Paul had some lows too though.
I mean, fuck. What a fucking pair of songwriters.
they both turned to shit post-beatles though. John had one good album with the Plastic Ono band and Paul had that one Wings album.
I want to say that I fucking love their early work too, the people that say they don't like I don't believe they've listened to more then 3 songs pre-1965.
A Day In The Life
Help
Strawberry Fields
Don't Let Me Down(rooftop)
Happiness is a warm gun
Tomorrow Never Knows
I can go on,Macca doesn't have as many songs that can compare with John's best shit but Paul's best shit was also god tier: Yesterday, For No One, etc. Paul had some lows too though.
I mean, fuck. What a fucking pair of songwriters.
they both turned to shit post-beatles though. John had one good album with the Plastic Ono band and Paul had that one Wings album.
I want to say that I fucking love their early work too, the people that say they don't like I don't believe they've listened to more then 3 songs pre-1965.
I totally disagree, however, Only A Northern Song was a better Harrison track about money woes.
Jack Remington
Banned
Added It's All Too Much and Savoy Truffle for George. Both top-tier songs, and I don't know why I forgot to include them.
It's All Too Much might be the best song the Beatles did that year.
It's All Too Much might be the best song the Beatles did that year.
RareFantasy64
Member
I got into The Beatles around a year ago. I'm going through their music slowly. Discovered A Day In The Life today. What an amazing song. For a long time I felt Paul was my favorite Beatle, and he probably is. But when I think about it, I think John was the mastermind behind most of my favorite Beatles songs. Like A Day In The Life for example. I know Paul has that middle section he wrote for the song but from what I understand, that song is mainly John's work. Strawberry Fields Forever and Tomorrow Never Knows are two other songs that might be my favorite thing from The Beatles.
I love John Lennon's psychedelic stuff. But then again, I love Lennon's more traditional pop/rock as well. A Hard Day's Night has so many of my favorite Beatles' songs.
The Abbey Road medley is up there with my favorite Beatles' songs and most of the sections seem to come from Paul songs and IIRC the medley was Paul's idea. You Never Give Me Your Money and Carry That Weight bring out so much bittersweet sadness in me. Yesterday, And I Love Her, Your Mother Should Know, etc. Paul has so many amazing Beatles' songs as well. It's a really tight race between the two
I love John Lennon's psychedelic stuff. But then again, I love Lennon's more traditional pop/rock as well. A Hard Day's Night has so many of my favorite Beatles' songs.
The Abbey Road medley is up there with my favorite Beatles' songs and most of the sections seem to come from Paul songs and IIRC the medley was Paul's idea. You Never Give Me Your Money and Carry That Weight bring out so much bittersweet sadness in me. Yesterday, And I Love Her, Your Mother Should Know, etc. Paul has so many amazing Beatles' songs as well. It's a really tight race between the two
Done.
Lord of Castamere
Member
Paul wrote Rocky Raccoon therefore Paul wins.
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