Paul McCartney is a truly peerless songwriter. As one of the driving creative forces behind The Beatles, and later as the frontman of Wings, he penned some of the most enduring songs of all time. From the eerie ‘Eleanor Rigby’ to the silly ‘Yellow Submarine’, his creations have resonated with generations of audiences, earning him a permanent place on lists of the greatest lyricists in music history.
Though many of us would see McCartney as immune to comparison, his on-and-off songwriting partner, John Lennon, didn’t always hold him in the same regard. The relationship between the two Beatles was a complex one. They started out as a creative duo, penning the earliest Fab Four efforts in close collaboration and agreeing that they would credit each song to their joint name.
But their partnership quickly soured. As McCartney attempted to take more creative control, and Lennon realised that he preferred collaborating with his romantic partner Yoko Ono, their fractured relationship would contribute to the eventual demise of The Beatles in 1970. After the band went their separate ways, Lennon began throwing some harsh public criticism in the direction of his former songwriting partner.
On one occasion, Lennon even likened McCartney to the famously lacklustre songwriter Engelbert Humperdinck, a comparison that the Beatle, understandably, took great offence to. Humperdinck found commercial success in the 1960s, but his songwriting talents didn’t even come close to McCartney’s.
Speaking with Rolling Stone in 1974, McCartney admitted that he “hated” the things that Lennon said about him, remembering how he pored over every insult that came his way.
The tirade of criticism even started to impact McCartney’s self-esteem, as he began to wonder if there was any truth to Lennon’s words. “‘Does he really think that of me?’ I thought,” McCartney recalled, “And at the time, I thought, ‘It’s me. I am. That’s just what I’m like. He’s captured me so well; I’m a turd, you know.’ I sat down and really thought, I’m just nothin’.”
Still, McCartney refused to hit back at his fellow Beatles, preferring to take the high road. With the reassurance of his partner, Linda, he also came to realise that Lennon’s insults were not rooted in truth but in bitterness. “Gradually, I started to think, great, that’s not true,” he remembered, “I’m not really like Engelbert; I don’t just write ballads.”
He certainly wasn’t like Humperdinck. His songwriting talents weren’t just limited to slow tunes – he contributed more experimental works to records like Revolver and created just as many rockers as he did ballads. And even when McCartney did write more melancholic compositions, they were worlds away from Huperdinck’s uninspired efforts.
Lennon knew this, but he also knew that his comments would get under McCartney’s skin. And they certainly did. “At the time, I tell you, it hurt me,” the songwriter remembered, “Whew. Deep.” It was only through the reassurance of his friends that he was able to overcome the subsequent insecurities he felt and remind himself of his songwriting talents.
Despite Lennon’s damning comments about McCartney, and the songs they exchanged taking digs at one another, the pair did reconcile their relationship before the former’s death in 1980. Lennon’s final comments about McCartney were apparently laced with fondness for his former songwriting partner, showing that, despite their feuding, there was always a mutual admiration for one another’s talents.
