Paul McCartney Shares How John Lennon Still Influences Him Till Today
LONDON - 30th DECEMBER: Paul McCartney and John Lennon (1940-1980) from The Beatles posed backstage at the Finsbury Park Astoria, London during the band's Christmas Show residency on 30th December 1963. (Photo by Val Wilmer/Redferns)
Sir Paul McCartney reveals how his late friend and bandmate John Lennon still influences his songwriting up to this day.
The Lennon–McCartney duo during the Beatles era were responsible for a lot of classic hits that are proven to be timeless pieces. Most recently, the 81-year-old musician admits that he hears Lennon’s voice in his head when he is writing a song. McCartney thinks about what his old collaborator would approve and what he wouldn’t.
Talking on the A Life In Lyrics podcast, McCartney shared:
“Often I’ll sort of refer… ‘What would John think of this? He’d have thought it was too soppy.’ So I’ll change it.
“That interplay was miraculous. You don’t have this opposing element so much [now]. I have to do that myself.”
McCartney also expressed what he thought about Lennon as a person before his untimely death in December 1980 at the age of 40. He continued:
“John’s persona was very guarded, hopelessly guarded. That’s where all his wit came from. Like so many comedians, it’s to shield themselves against the world.
“John having a very difficult upbringing – his father leaves home, his uncle dies and his mother gets killed – he could be very sarcastic. We all could, it was my way of dealing with my mother’s death. There would often be a very witty put-down. It wouldn’t always be a put-down but it was always a very quick answer, and he’d trained himself to do that.”
The singer added:
“That was one of the attractive things about him. I remember him saying to me, ‘Paul, I worry about how people are going to remember me when I die’. It shocked me and I said, ‘Hold it right there. People are going to think you were great’. I was like his priest. I’d say, ‘My son, you’re great.’ It’d make him feel better.”
