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TL;DR:

  • John Lennon said one of The Beatles’ songs was about feeling like a loser.
  • Paul McCartney didn’t have a strong reaction to the song when John wrote it.
  • Paul later saw the song as a cry for help.
The Beatles' George Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney near a wall
The Beatles’ George Harrison, John Lennon, and Paul McCartney | Bettmann / Contributor

John Lennon said one of The Beatles’ songs was about feeling like a loser. He said he went back and forth between feeling like a loser and feeling like God. Subsequently, Paul McCartney said John was brave for writing the song in question.

John Lennon said Bob Dylan inspired 1 of The Beatles’ songs that was about his feelings

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono contains a 1980 interview. In it, John discussed his self-perception. “It’s the same problem I had when I was five: ‘There is something wrong with me because I seem to see things other people don’t see. Am I crazy, or am I a genius?'” he said. “I don’t think I’m either: ‘crazy’ and ‘genius’ don’t really mean anything anymore.”

Subsequently, John explained why he wrote a song called “I’m a Loser.” “Part of me suspects I’m a loser and part of me thinks I’m God Almighty,” he said. John said Bob Dylan’s music inspired “I’m a Loser.”

Paul McCartney said ‘I’m a Loser’ and another song were ‘cries for help’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed “I’m a Loser.” “Looking back on it I think songs like ‘I’m a Loser’ and ‘Nowhere Man‘ were John’s cries for help,” he opined. “We used to listen to quite a lot of country and western songs and they are all about sadness and ‘I lost my truck’ so it was quite acceptable to sing ‘I’m a loser.’

“You didn’t really think about it at the time, it’s only later you think, God!” Paul added. “I think it was pretty brave of John. ‘I’m a Loser’ was very much John’s song and there may have been a dabble or two from me.”

Related

1 Beatles Song Didn’t Become a Top 10 Hit Until the 1990s

How The Beatles’ ‘I’m a Loser’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“I’m a Loser” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United States, the tune appeared on the album Beatles ’65. The album hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for nine weeks, staying on the chart for a total of 71 weeks.

“I’m a Loser” was not a single in the United Kingdom so The Official Charts Company reports it did not chart there. In the U.K., the song appeared on the album Beatles for Sale. The album topped the U.K. chart for 11 weeks, remaining on the chart for 46 weeks altogether.

“I’m a Loser” was not a hit but it gave fans insight into John’s mind.

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