John Lennon Said a Beatles Hit Was 1 of the 1st Heavy Metal Songs

John Lennon felt one of The Beatles‘ songs was an early heavy metal record. Paul McCartney felt the song was groundbreaking as well, although for different reasons. Notably, the song became a hit twice in the United Kingdom.

Paul McCartney called 1 of The Beatles’ songs ‘a work job’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed The Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride.” “It was pretty much a work job that turned out quite well,” he said. “I think the interesting thing was a crazy ending: instead of ending like the previous verse, we changed the tempo. We picked up one of the lines, ‘My baby don’t care,’ but completely altered the melody.”

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono includes an interview from 1980. In it, John mentioned “Ticket to Ride.” “That was one of the earliest heavy-metal records made,” he said. “Paul’s contribution was the way Ringo played the drums.”

Why Paul McCartney felt the song was ‘quite radical at the time’

In Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said “Ticket to Ride” was innovative. However, he did not claim it was an early heavy metal song.

“We almost invented the idea of a new bit of a song on the fade-out with this song; it was something specially written for the fade-out, which was very effective but it was quite cheeky and we did a fast ending,” he recalled. “It was quite radical at the time.”

Paul responded to John’s quote from All We Are Saying. “John just didn’t take the time to explain that we sat down together and worked on that song for a full three-hour songwriting session, and at the end of it all we had all the words, we had the harmonies, and we had all the little bits,” Paul said.

How The Beatles’ ‘Ticket to Ride’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“Ticket to Ride” became a big hit. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week, staying on the chart for 11 weeks. The track appeared on the compilation 1962-1966. The album hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and remained on the chart for 175 weeks.

The Official Charts Company reports “Ticket to Ride” topped the chart in the United Kingdom for three weeks. The track stayed on the chart for 12 weeks in total. In 1985, the song became a single again. “Ticket to Ride” hit No. 70 and stayed on the chart for three weeks.

1962-1966 was popular in the U.K. as well. The album reached No. 3 on the U.K. chart, remaining on the chart for 167 weeks.

“Ticket to Ride” became a massive hit — and John felt it broke musical ground.