Was McCartney better than Lennon?

Ledbetterman10

tremors wrote:

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

I'm not about to argue who's "better" but I'm always a fan of something like this thread that is meant to give Paul his due because I think he gets shortchanged a lot.

Here's an aspect of the Lennon/McCartney songwriting partnership that nobody ever really seems to analyze: how one contributes to the other's songs. Consider......

Paul's contributions to John's songs:
*A Day in the Life - The middle section and the idea to use the orchestra.
*Strawberry Field Forever - Plays the mellotron intro.
*Tomorrow Never Knows - Created the tape loops
*The Ballad of John & Yoko - Plays piano, bass, and drums despite hating Yoko.

While "A Day in the Life" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" would surly be great songs with out these contributions from Paul (as evidenced by the early takes on the Anthology), it's what Paul brought to these songs that made them so innovative and ground-breaking.

John's contributions to Paul's songs:
*Mother Nature's Son - Suggested the use of a brass band
*Helter Skelter - Plays a wonderfully chaotic saxophone toward the end.
*Hey Jude - Suggested keeping in a line that Paul was going to omit.
*Yellow Submarine - The swooshing water sounds and captain-talk during the bridge.

Not to discredit John because these are all great contributions, but they're not as important (in my opinion) as the Paul contributions I listed. It's just odd how something like "Tomorrow Never Knows" is "A John song" when the song's chief "selling point" is a Paul idea.

I often wonder if Paul would be looked at differently by his critics if "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" were "Paul McCartney" songs rather than "Beatles" songs. As great a song as "Imagine" is, if John released it with the Beatles, it may be looked at now as "just another great Beatles song." But it stands out because it's his own. I think that if "Let It Be" could have been the same for Paul if it appeared on a solo album rather than with the Beatles. As a Beatles record, it's just another great Beatles song. But if it was a solo song, I think critics at the time would say "Wow, I didn't think Paul had it in him."

Liked this post a lot - both convincing and educative!!

Hey thanks. Yeah...I've been defending Paul and his silly love songs for years.

The Waiting Trophy Man

Ledbetterman10 wrote:

Paul's contributions to John's songs:
*A Day in the Life - The middle section and the idea to use the orchestra.
*Strawberry Field Forever - Plays the mellotron intro.
*Tomorrow Never Knows - Created the tape loops
*The Ballad of John & Yoko - Plays piano, bass, and drums despite hating Yoko.

While "A Day in the Life" and "Tomorrow Never Knows" would surly be great songs with out these contributions from Paul (as evidenced by the early takes on the Anthology), it's what Paul brought to these songs that made them so innovative and ground-breaking.

John's contributions to Paul's songs:
*Mother Nature's Son - Suggested the use of a brass band
*Helter Skelter - Plays a wonderfully chaotic saxophone toward the end.
*Hey Jude - Suggested keeping in a line that Paul was going to omit.
*Yellow Submarine - The swooshing water sounds and captain-talk during the bridge.

I've thought of this before too. It seems like John got a lot more help from Paul on his songs, but Paul didn't need much, if any, help on his own songs (Yesterday, Hey Jude, Let it Be, Blackbird). Most people think Ticket to Ride is a John song, but according to Paul it was a joint effort. He said they wrote it together in a 3 hour songwriting session. He said the idea of the song started with John, but in the end it was 60/40. But John said in an interview that Paul's contribution was how Ringo played the drums. It was as though he didn't want to give Paul credit for anything. Paul even heped John with Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The "newspaper taxis" bit was written by Paul. I'm pretty sure he also helped write Norwegian Wood, which is also thought of as a "John song". And really, what would Come Together be like without that McCartney bass line?