![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/John-Lennon-Paul-McCartney-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n
Fri 23 January 2026 19:30, UK <\/p>\n
The sharp claws of the music critics would have been nothing for Paul McCartney come the end of the 1960s, and not because he was the golden boy of music, who could largely do no wrong, but because every single song that left The Beatles<\/a> recording studio would have had to pass perhaps his toughest, most uncompromising critic of all: John Lennon.\u00a0<\/p>\n The formidable duo of Lennon-McCartney rose to greatness on the back of an almost brotherly-like bond, one that constantly straddled the line between love and hatred, and that tension created some of the very best songs in the early years of the band, where their symbiotic approach to music made them a blues-rock writing machine.\u00a0<\/p>\n But then, midway through the decade, when their individual voices began to form wildly different ideals under the stewardship of psychedelic expansion, the creative tension became more toxic. In fact, McCartney famously said his brotherly Beatle only ever complimented one<\/a> of his songs to his face, highlighting just how far their respect had strayed from one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n McCartney\u2019s playful style began to grate on Lennon, who decided to unleash a public assault on a number of tunes which showcased that sensibility. \u2018Lovely Rita\u2019, \u2018Maxwell\u2019s Silver Hammer\u2019 and \u2018Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da\u2019<\/a> were just a few to receive the Lennon treatment, with the latter being dubbed \u201cgranny music\u201d by the bespectacled Beatle.\u00a0Clearly, Lennon had a deeper respect for musical profundity than playfulness, which makes it somewhat surprising that McCartney\u2019s epic ballad \u2018Let It Be\u2019 found its way into the crosshairs of Lennon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite the role it played in bookending the band\u2019s career and providing somewhat of a philanthropic finish for them, Lennon regarded it as something detached from the band altogether and more synonymous with McCartney\u2019s more self-interested future.\u00a0He explained, \u201cWhat can you say? Nothing to do with The Beatles. It could\u2019ve been Wings. I don\u2019t know what he\u2019s thinking when he writes \u2018Let It Be\u2019. I think it was inspired by \u2018Bridge Over Troubled Water\u2019.<\/a> That\u2019s my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know he wanted to write a \u2018Bridge Over Troubled Waters\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n While Simon & Garfunkel may have been somewhat of an inspiration for McCartney, he has publicly explained that the song came from a deeply personal experience, explaining that during a time of need, his mother appeared to him in a dream and reassured his woes, with the calm delivery of the song\u2019s title line.\u00a0<\/p>\n He explained, \u201cSo that got me writing the song \u2018Let It Be\u2019,\u201d he continued, \u201cI literally started off, \u2018Mother Mary\u2019, which was her name, \u2018When I find myself in times of trouble\u2019, which I certainly found myself in. The song was based on that dream.\u201d<\/p>\n Adding, \u201cMother Mary makes it a quasi-religious thing, so you can take it that way. I don\u2019t mind,\u201d said McCartney, \u201cI\u2019m quite happy if people want to use it to shore up their faith. I have no problem with that. I think it\u2019s a great thing to have faith of any sort, particularly in the world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n It saw Macca perfect the art of a song that straddles the personal and universal, with relative ease, all while showcasing the sort of melodic prowess he became famed for. Maybe it was just Lennon\u2019s general tiredness with him as a person at that point, or the subtle spiritually put him off, but either way, it became the soundtrack to their crumbling relationship.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Related Topics<\/p>\n The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n All the latest stories about The Beatles from the independent voice of culture.
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