John Lennon was a creative genius. Period. What he and Paul McCartney contributed to popular music may never be equaled or outdone. So when Lennon was unhappy with something that was song-related, the Earth rumbled. Indeed, he was reportedly in a snit about some of the Fab Four's lyrics that were, in his opinion, unworthy of the legendary band, per Far Out Magazine. He was intense, driven, and cerebral. According to the outlet, "There was always deepness to the bespectacled Beatle. His childhood had been pitted with loss and a sense of displacement—music offered salvation."
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Bob Dylan Influenced The Beatles To Go In A New, More Substantial Direction
After Dylan and his towering impact, the Beatles seemingly zoomed from fluff to formidable. Given that new trajectory, anything superficial they did wasn't good enough. The lighter fare they performed did not cut it now. Per the outlet, "...[T]he poppier tracks often met with [Lennon's] scorn—even when it was Lennon himself who had written them."
One Song In Particular Struck In John Lennon's Craw
The song "It's Only Love" showed up on their 1965 album, Help!. Eager to push out new material quickly to satisfy their ravenous fans in the grip of early 1960s Beatlemania, they rushed the tune. Lennon rued it. Per the outlet via Playboy, he said, "'It's Only Love' is mine. I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song." I can almost picture Lennon in my mind holding his nose as he spoke those words. He practically considered "It's Only Love" to be a blot on his reputation.
Paul McCartney Was More Chill Than Lennon About The Profound Vs. Light Lyrics Situation
McCartney didn't get as wound up as his songwriting partner did about a tune like "It's Only Love." Per the outlet, he said, "If a lyric was really bad we'd edit it, but we weren't that fussy about it, because it's only a rock 'n' roll song. I mean, this is not literature." Fair enough, but some of the Beatles' songs really do qualify as high art. Think of "A Day in the Life," for example.
I guess all bands who stay together as long as the Beatles did and are under a microscope have their great achievements and their less impressive ones.
