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TL;DR:

  • John Lennon compared one of his songs to Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.”
  • The song in question was about Paul McCartney.
  • John said he wasn’t feeling “vicious” toward Paul when he penned the song.
Bob Dylan holding a guitar
Bob Dylan | Bettmann / Contributor

One of John Lennon‘s songs was a swipe at Paul McCartney. John compared the track to Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone.” Subsequently, John explained how Paul reacted to the track.

John Lennon said Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ used ‘somebody as an object to create something’

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono is a 1980 interview. During the interview, John discussed his song “How Do You Sleep?” The song is a diss track directed at Paul for making subpar “muzak.”

“Well, it was like Dylan doing ‘Like a Rolling Stone,’ one of his nasty songs,” John revealed. “It’s using somebody as an object to create something.”

John explained the emotions behind “How Do You Sleep?” “I wasn’t really feeling that vicious at the time, but I was using my resentment towards Paul to create a song,” he recalled. “Let’s put it that way. It was just a mood.” 

The ‘Imagine’ singer wanted his song to be direct and unambiguous in ts criticisms of Paul McCartney

John discussed Paul’s reaction to “How Do You Sleep?” “Paul took it the way he did because it obviously, pointedly refers to him, and people just hounded him about it, asking, ‘How do ya feel about it?'” he said. “But there were a few little digs on his albums, which he kept so obscure that other people didn’t notice ’em, you know, but I heard them.” 

John said “How Do You Sleep?” differed from his more obscure digs at the “Silly Love Songs” singer. “So I just thought, ‘Well, hang up being obscure! I’ll just get right down to the nitty-gritty,” he recalled.

Related

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How Bob Dylan’s ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ and John Lennon’s ‘How Do You Sleep?’ performed on the pop charts in the United States

“Like a Rolling Stone” became one of Dylan’s biggest hits in the United States. It reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 12 weeks. The track appeared on Dylan’s album Highway 61 Revisited, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 47 weeks.

On the other hand, “How Do You Sleep?” was never a single. Therefore, it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. John included the track on his album Imagine. The album topped the Billboard 200 for a single week, lasting a total of 47 weeks on the chart.

“Like a Rolling Stone” and “How Do You Sleep?” are classic songs even if John felt they were “nasty.”

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