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TL;DR:

  • John Lennon was happy when two songs from The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine became football anthems.
  • He said he wanted to write songs “people would sing actually in the pub or in a demonstration.”
  • One of the songs in question was an international hit and the other one was not.
The Beatles with a yellow submarine in black-and-white
The Beatles with a yellow submarine | Bettmann / Contributor

John Lennon said two songs from The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine became sports anthems. He felt one of the songs in question was very repetitive. In addition, he said one of the Plastic Ono Band’s songs became an anthem as well.

John Lennon said fans liked The Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘All Together Now’

The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon features an interview from 1971. In it, John was asked about a time when “Yellow Submarine” was sung by workers on strike. “That’s great,” John replied. “I like that.”

John also discussed how “Yellow Submarine” and another song became popular among sports fans. “I enjoyed when the football crowds in the early days would sing things like ‘Yellow Submarine’ and ‘All Together Now,’ which is another one that we put out,” he said. “It just said, ‘All together now, all together now, all together now’ all the time.”

John Lennon said those Beatles songs resonated similarly to ‘Give Peace a Chance’

John said the Plastic Ono Band’s debut single, “Give Peace a Chance,” also resonated with people. “And I was pleased when ‘Give Peace a Chance’ became a sort of anthem thing,” he said. “I’d written it with that in mind, really, hoping that instead of singing ‘We Shall Overcome’ from 1800 or whatever it is, that they would sing something [current].”

John explained his philosophy as a songwriter. “I felt an obligation even then to write something that people would sing actually in the pub or in a demonstration,” he said. John opined folk songs were powerful, and rock ‘n’ roll had become the folk music of contemporary times.

Related

John Lennon Said Another Star Helped Paul McCartney Write The Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’

How ‘All Together Now’ and Yellow Submarine’ performed on the pop charts

“All Together Now” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. On the other hand, “Yellow Submarine” reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for nine weeks. Both songs appeared on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. That soundtrack reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 25 weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “All Together Now” never charted in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, “Yellow Submarine” was released as a double A-side single with “Eleanor Rigby” there. “Yellow Submarine” and “Eleanor Rigby” reached No. 1 in the U.K. for four weeks, lasting on the chart for 13 weeks.

Later, the tunes reached No. 63 there and lasted on the chart for two weeks. Meanwhile, the Yellow Submarine soundtrack peaked at No. 3 in the U.K. and remained on the chart for 10 weeks.

“All Together Now” and “Yellow Submarine” are great songs and they both were embraced by sports fans.

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