MUSIC
The moment John Lennon realised he was a “genius”
The word “genius” is often thrown about with devaluing abandon in the arts. Beyond the black-and-white metrics of IQ tests and first-class degrees, a genius, whether in the arts or astrophysics, should possess an extraordinary mind. For even the most conservative pundits, however, “genius” would appear an apt term to describe Paul McCartney and John Lennon, the principal songwriters of The Beatles.
The collective genius of the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership – the most successful the world has ever seen – thrived on the pair’s harmonious dissonance. You may have spotted my oxymoron and would be justified in demanding further explanation. While Lennon and McCartney wrote together in a near-telepathic and symbiotic fashion, their success depended on creative disparity.
While McCartney was generally responsible for the more twee and utopian concepts, Lennon’s writing often accommodated the bizarre and dystopic. Following the Beatles’ psychedelic era, Lennon’s abstract Beat-inspired lyrics began to make way for darker themes as he addressed global politics and personal demons.
Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting talent evolved through the 1960s and hit full stride in the latter half of the decade, but genius is a latent attribute predisposed by genetics. As with anything, nurture and life choices run the last lap.
In Lennon’s case, his upbringing was anything from conventional. As documented in his 1970 solo song ‘Mother’, the Beatle suffered from maternal abandonment from the age of five, when his mother, Julia, was pressured to put him into the care of his stern aunt, Mimi Smith. Lennon would rarely visit his mother over the ensuing 12 years before her tragic death in 1958.
Lennon was born predisposed to greatness, but an unconventional childhood and fascination with music created the perfect storm. “People like me are aware of their so-called genius at ten, eight, nine,” Lennon explained in a 1971 interview with Jann Wenner of Rolling Stone. “I always wondered, ‘Why has nobody discovered me?’ In school, didn’t they see that I’m cleverer than anybody in this school? That the teachers are stupid, too? That all they had was information that I didn’t need.”
“It was obvious to me,” he pursued. “Why didn’t they put me in art school?… Why would they keep forcing me to be a fuckin’ cowboy like the rest of them? I was different. I was always different.”
This declaration harkens back to that of Oscar Wilde as he passed through US customs in 1882. Arrogant as it might sound, though, Lennon spoke candidly and would later conclude that genius was a form of insanity and, in fact, made life more difficult for the bearer. Genius may line the pockets, but an overactive mind can find very little peace.
In Jeff Burger’s 2016 book, Lennon On Lennon: Conversations With John Lennon, the late Beatle is quoted recalling his genius as being at the heart of a fractious relationship with Aunt Mimi. “I got fuckin’ lost in being at high school,” he said. “I used to say to me auntie, ‘You throw my fuckin’ poetry out, and you’ll regret it when I’m famous,’ and she threw the bastard stuff out. I never forgave her for not treating me like a fuckin’ genius or whatever I was when I was a child.”
