John Lennon wasn’t the most complimentary of Paul McCartney‘s music. He often thought his songwriting leaned on the silly side, calling his unique voice “granny sh**.” That fact might come as a shock to many new Beatles fans, considering Lennon and McCartney were the most famous writing duo in the band. While they had their moments as a united front, the cracks in their partnership grew larger over time.
Lennon issued that insult to many McCartney-penned songs, but there is one hit in particular that Lennon once called “meaningless.” There was only one saving grace to this song, according to Lennon: his contribution.
John Lennon’s Issues With One Paul McCartney Beatles Hit
“Hello, Goodbye” is one of the Beatles’ most famous songs. It’s also one of their simplest. On the surface, there is nothing super complex or profound about this track. It feels as though it was written more for the jovial vibe than any hard-hitting statement. Nevertheless, McCartney had a theme in mind while penning this song.
“‘Hello, Goodbye’ was one of my songs,” McCartney once said. “There are Geminian 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.”
Despite the success of this McCartney song, Lennon argued the opposite stance. He once called it “three minutes of contradictions and meaningless juxtapositions.”
Lennon Last Minute Additions
The only saving grace for this Beatles track in Lennon’s mind was the part he played in it. He, alongside his bandmates, ad-libbed the ending for “Hello, Goodbye.” Their loose, free playing broke up the monotony of this song, giving it an edge—and some amount of merit in Lennon’s opinion.
“That’s another McCartney,” Lennon once said. “Smells a mile away, doesn’t it? 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.”
In the end, Lennon’s opinion was not the popular one. Fans adore “Hello, Goodbye,” largely for the same reasons Lennon hated it. Revisit this Beatles hit below.
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