John Lennon and Paul McCartney were among the most famous, successful, and prolific songwriting duos in modern music history. That is not an overstatement. Think of all the wonderful songs they crafted together. Those tunes became a part of out shared cultural treasure chest. But like most close pairings, whether professional or personal, Lennon and McCartney argued. Per showbizcheatsheet.com, "In 1971, John Lennon released 'How Do You Sleep?,' a scathing song about former bandmate Paul McCartney. McCartney wrote a dig about Lennon in the song 'Too Many People,' and Lennon went scorched Earth in his response.
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John Lennon Vented His Anger At Paul McCartney In A Song Called 'How Do You Sleep?'
According to the outlet, Lennon's first version of "How Do You Sleep?" was even more pointedly negative toward McCartney. Lennon said per the outlet via Beatles Bible, "I wasn't really feeling that vicious at the time, but I was using my resentment towards Paul to create a song. Let's put it that way."
The melody of one tune supposedly came to McCartney via a dream, but Lennon allegedly claimed that it was not his own material.
It seems like Lennon could barely contain his ire at McCartney at that time. One of his buddies, Felix Dennis, claimed per showbizcheatshett.com via Many Years From Now by Barry Miles that the original edition of the song was poisonous. "Some of it was absolutely puerile. Thank God a lot of it never actually got recorded because it was highly, highly personal, like a bunch of schoolboys standing in the lavatory making scatological jokes."
A Fellow Beatle Asked Lennon To Dial Back His Nasty Lyrics
When George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Lennon were recording, Starr allegedly became uneasy about the blisteringly hostile lyrics of that song. He said so to Lennon, requesting him to lighten up. Felix Dennis recalled the incident. "I remember Ringo getting more and more upset by this. At one point I have a clear memory of him saying, 'That's enough, John.'"
Paul McCartney Took The High Road
McCartney reportedly thought "How Do You Sleep?" was unkind. He disliked Lennon's insinuation that the sole decent song he wrote was "Yesterday." However, he declined to retaliate.
McCartney said, "I didn't want to get into a slanging match. I had the option of going for equal time and doing all the interviews or deciding not to take up the gauntlet. And I remember consciously thinking, 'No, I really mustn't.'"
His relationship with John Lennon eventually "reached a much more peaceful place," per the outlet.
