MusicThe Beatles song John Lennon called Paul McCartney’s “masterpiece”
John Lennon always had somewhat of a love/hate relationship with Paul McCartney’s music. As much as they may have been a phenomenal songwriting team as a part of The Beatles, Lennon was also more than happy to drag McCartney’s songs through the mud if he thought they deserved it, notoriously hating ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’. Lennon could lay down the law, but one song he thought was far superior to anything else he accomplished.
In the early days of The Beatles, it was clear that Lennon ruled the band. From the first few albums onward, Lennon was usually the dominant force behind every album, taking lead vocals on the majority of the songs and using McCartney as a foil when working on ballads like ‘If I Fell’ and ‘You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away’.
Compared to Lennon’s signature bite, McCartney was more into making optimistic music, using his gift for melody to uplift the listener at every opportunity. Although that optimism could usually be a detriment to the band’s workload, Lennon was still a sucker for when McCartney could write a classic tune, famously singling out ‘Here There and Everywhere’ as one of the finest tracks his partner had ever made.
When working in the studio in the back half of their career, McCartney slowly turned into the dominant force in the group. Making great strides on albums like Sgt Peppers, McCartney quickly took over as the band’s creative force, with Lennon offering more experimental fodder like ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’.
While the duo would reach their creative boiling point when working on The White Album, Lennon would never put down the song ‘Hey Jude’. Aimed at Lennon’s son Julian as he watched his parents go through a divorce, McCartney wrote the tune to cheer up his honourary nephew.
Featuring one of the longest outros in rock history, Lennon would feel a personal connection to the track whenever he played it. As much as he could appreciate the songcraft that went into it, Lennon always heard the material as a song addressing their friendship.
When speaking to Rolling Stone about the band’s back catalogue, Lennon would consider ‘Hey Jude’ a landmark achievement in McCartney’s recording career, saying, “It was one of Paul’s masterpieces. I always heard it as a song to me. Yoko’s just come into the picture. Paul is saying, ‘Go ahead, leave me’. He didn’t want to lose his partner”.
In the years since, McCartney has heard different pieces of the track as subtle advice that he was giving to himself as well. Since he was just starting a new relationship with Linda Eastman, the phrase “now go and get her” may as well be a plea for him to follow his heart rather than stay behind and let her get away.
Although McCartney is responsible for the lion’s share of the song, he did admit that Lennon’s spirit came out in one line. When discussing the song’s writing, McCartney recalled that Lennon is in the line “the movement you need is on your shoulder”, even getting emotional to this day whenever he sings the line in concert.
Regardless of who it is addressed to, ‘Hey Jude’ marked another stellar single by The Beatles, showing them going into more ambitious territory than ever before. Lennon could be known as a cynical band member at points, but even he couldn’t deny the power Macca captured in this song.
