John Lennon Said a Paul McCartney Song Would Be a Career-Ender for the Band That Recorded It
John Lennon didn’t try to hide it when he found Paul McCartney’s songs unbearable. He insulted many of The Beatles’ songs, including ones he wrote, and several of McCartney’s tunes were the subject of his ire. Not only did Lennon think the writing was weak on one of McCartney’s songs, but he thought it could potentially damage the career of a band that planned to record it. Here’s the song that Lennon disliked so much.
John Lennon openly disliked the Paul McCartney song ‘One and One Is Two’
In 1964, McCartney recorded a demo for the song “One and One Is Two.” He wrote the lyrics and sang the tune. When reflecting on the love song in 1980, Lennon couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“That’s another of Paul’s bad attempts at writing a song,” he told David Sheff in All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview With John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
The Beatles did not release the song. When McCartney wrote it, he intended to give it to the band Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas. After hearing McCartney record the demo, Lennon reportedly expressed his distaste with a bit of cruel humor.
“Billy J. is finished when he gets this song,” he said, per The Unreleased Beatles by Richie Unterberger.
Apparently, Billy J. Kramer agreed with Lennon. The band turned down the song, and it went to The Strangers with Mike Shannon. Another band, The Fourmost, also considered taking the song but ultimately decided it wasn’t strong enough to record.
“McCartney came into the studio and played bass on ‘One and One Is Two,’ but there just wasn’t any meat in the song and we couldn’t get anywhere with it,” guitarist Brian O’Hara said.
Was Paul McCartney’s ‘One and One Is Two’ as bad as John Lennon thought?
Lennon disliked several classic Beatles songs, including ones well-loved by fans. In this case, though, he had a point. The song likely would not have “finished” Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas’ career, but it was nothing special.
The tune is bouncy and upbeat, but it doesn’t offer anything new or inventive. The rhyming scheme is overly simple. “One and one is two/What am I to do/Now that I’m in love with you?” McCartney wrote. The Beatles were known for pushing the envelope, but this song feels bland and conventional. For a band looking forward to recording a Beatle-written song, “One and One Is Two” would be a letdown.
Listeners agreed. Upon its release, the song failed to chart.
What Paul McCartney songs did John Lennon like?
Lennon was harsh on “One and One is Two” and a number of other McCartney songs. Still, he enjoyed much of his bandmate’s writing. He thoroughly liked songs like “Yesterday,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” and “All My Loving.” Lennon’s favorite of McCartney’s, though, was “Hey Jude.”
“That’s his best song,” Lennon told Hit Parader in 1972 (via Internet Archive). “It started off as a song about my son Julian because Paul was going to see him. Then he turned it into ‘Hey Jude.’ I always thought it was about me and Yoko but he said it was about him and his.”
