John Lennon Copied From Multiple Artists While Writing ‘Come Together’
“Come Together” is one of The Beatles’ biggest hits, reaching No. 1 on the charts in multiple countries. However, the song stirred up controversy when John Lennon was accused of copying from another artist. It turns out that Lennon might have ripped off multiple artists while writing this Beatles hit.
Paul McCartney warned John Lennon that ‘Come Together’ sounded too similar to a Chuck Berry song
“Come Together” debuted in 1969 as the opening track on Abbey Road and was also released as a single. It was a hit, but John Lennon had to take “Come Together” to the editing room before releasing it.
In an interview with the Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey and David Spade, Paul McCartney said the opening line that Lennon came up with was exactly the same as Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me”. While the line stayed in the song, McCartney asked Lennon to change the tempo so it didn’t sound too similar to Berry’s tune.
“We’re in Abbey Road Studio number two, and John comes in, and he goes, ‘Listen to this one I got…Here come old flat top,’ and I go, ‘John, stop. That’s ‘You Can’t Catch Me’ by Chuck Berry,’” McCartney said. “And he goes, ‘Yeah, I know. But it’s good though, isn’t it?’ I said, ‘No, you gotta do something with it.’ So, that was a case where we head to get it out of that Chuck Berry tempo. You couldn’t change that opening line. It’s just such a good opening line, and John had to pay Chuck Berry for using that later.”
The chorus for ‘Come Together’ comes from a Bob Dylan song
Bob Dylan heavily influenced John Lennon, so it shouldn’t be surprising that “Come Together” has a connection to the folk-rock singer. Lennon wrote many Beatles songs in what he called his “Dylan-period”, where his lyrics were more introspective and poetic.
“I started thinking about my own emotions – I don’t know when exactly it started, like ‘I’m a Loser’ or ‘Hide Your Love Away’ or those kind of things – instead of projecting myself into a situation, I would try to express what I felt about myself which I’d done in me books,” Lennon said in Lennon Remembers. “I think it was Dylan helped me realize that.”
Dylan’s influence can be heard in the “Come Together” chorus as Lennon borrows a line from Dylan’s song, “Roll on John”. In the song, Dylan sings, “Come together right now over me.” “Roll on John” wasn’t released until 2012, so there was a misconception that Dylan was paying tribute to The Beatles. However, Dylan wrote the song in 1962, seven years before “Come Together” debuted.
Lennon was accused of plagiarism and was forced to make an album as part of a deal
The plagiarism controversy behind “Come Together” led to John Lennon’s involvement in several lawsuits and countersuits. Music publisher Morris Levy sued Lennon, arguing “Come Together” was too close to Berry’s song. This led to a deal between Levy and Lennon where the former Beatle had to record songs Levy owned.
According to the BBC, this deal led to Lennon’s 1975 album Rock ‘n’ Roll, an album made up of covers of popular rock ballads. The album received mixed reviews, with many believing Lennon was disinterested in the project. This could be because he was forced into making it, rather than it being a product of Lennon’s creative vision.
