When you think of great songwriting duos, one of the first that comes to mind is always John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Granted, every member of The Beatles contributed towards the band’s success, but the songwriting partnership of Lennon and McCartney was one of the most significant factors when it came to solidifying them as legends.
The reason the two worked so well together wasn’t because of their similarities but because of their differences. It wasn’t that they were both yes men who convinced one another to keep writing whatever their original idea was. Instead, they were able to challenge one another and provide a fresh perspective on things. They were a leg up to the common hurdle of writer’s block, and it meant that The Beatles released various albums considered classics for different reasons.
Of course, these differences over an elongated period in the spotlight might become more of a hindrance than a help, and that’s precisely what happened to The Beatles. Towards the end of the band’s time together, the songwriting partnership of McCartney and Lennon ended. Ironically, the song that marked that end was about duality, indirectly highlighting the differences driving a wedge between the songwriters.
“’Hello, Goodbye’ was one of my songs,” said McCartney, “There are German influences here I think: the twins. It’s such a deep theme in the universe, duality – man woman, black white, ebony ivory, high low, right wrong, up down, hello goodbye – that it was a very easy song to write. It’s just a song of duality, with me advocating the more positive. You say goodbye, I say hello. You say stop, I say go. I was advocating the more positive side of the duality, and I still do to this day.”
The song was written by McCartney when he showed Alistair Taylor, Brian Epstein’s former personal assistant, how to write a song. “Paul marched me into the dining room, where he had a marvellous old hand-carved harmonium. ‘Come and sit at the other end of the harmonium. You hit any note on the keyboard. Just hit it and I’ll do the same. Now, whenever I should out a word, you shout the opposite, and I’ll make up a tune. You watch, it’ll make music’…”
The two exchanged opposites such as black and white, yes and no, and of course, hello, goodbye. “I wonder whether Paul really made up that song as he went along or whether it was running through his head already.”
Whilst Alistair might have enjoyed the songwriting process, the track getting released as an A-side was one of the final straws for Lennon, who believed ‘I Am The Walrus’ was the superior track of the two. He dismissed ‘Hello, Goodbye’ as “three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions”.
Lennon was clearly growing tired of McCartney’s songwriting, as he even admitted that one part of the song was a bit that he didn’t think about. “That’s another McCartney. Smells a mile away, doesn’t it?” he said, “An attempt to write a single. It wasn’t a great piece; the best bit was the end, which we all ad-libbed in the studio, where I played the piano. Like one of my favourite bits on ‘Ticket To Ride’, where we just threw something in at the end.”
The difference of opinion between the two is highlighted in how they speak about the song. While McCartney sees a philosophical angle, Lennon passes it off as silly dribble. Whilst differences can be beneficial at times when engaging with your creativity when you have the amount of pressure the Beatles will have had on them, paired with the amount of time the duo will have spent together, it’s not surprising that ‘Hello, Goodbye’ marked the beginning of the end of their songwriting partnership.
