John Lennon Was Wrong About The Rolling Stones’ ‘We Love You’
John Lennon insulted The Rolling Stones’ “We Love You.” In addition, he said The Rolling Stones’ Their Satanic Majesties Request was a carbon copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. His opinions were too narrow-minded.
John Lennon said The Rolling Stones’ ‘We Love You’ was a rip-off of ‘All You Need Is Love’
The Beatles wrote a lot about love. They gave us “Love Me Do,” “Can’t Buy Me Love,” “All You Need Is Love,” “She Loves You,” “All My Loving,” “And I Love Her,” and “Love You To.” They also wrote numerous other songs that focus on love without having “love” in the title.
The Rolling Stones wrote great love songs, but they were less focused on the concept than The Beatles. For example, they only had one hit in the 1960s with the word “love” in the title: “We Love You.” John’s opinion of that song was so off.
In a 1970 interview from the book Lennon Remembers, John discussed “We Love You.” “I can knock The Beatles, but don’t let Mick Jagger knock them,” he said. “I would like to just list what we did and what the Stones did two months after on every f*****’ album.”
“And I would like one of you f*****’ underground people to point it out, you know [Their Satanic Majesties Request] is [Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band], ‘We Love You,’ it’s the most f*****’ bulls***, that’s ‘All You Need Is Love.'”
John Lennon’s statements about The Rolling Stones missed the forest for the trees
Some fans see Their Satanic Majesties Request as a carbon copy of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sure, the album covers are similar, and they’re both experimental albums. But their sonic textures are so different. There’s not a single moment of one that’s too similar to the other.
“All You Need Is Love” is a whimsical psychedelic song. On the other hand, “We Love You” sounds chaotic and somewhat abrasive. The former feels sincere, while the latter almost feels like a jokey, sarcastic take on the Summer of Love. The Rolling Stones weren’t as good at heart-on-your-sleeve songs as the Fab Four were, and it’s not clear that’s what they were trying to write with “We Love You.”
Basically, “All You Need Is Love” and “We Love You” have nothing in common. They’re both about love, but so are most pop songs. He could just as easily have said “All You Need Is Love” was a rip-off of “Love Me Tender.” John’s comment on “We Love You” doesn’t hold water.
How ‘We Love You’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
Despite John’s comments, the public embraced “We Love You.” The tune peaked at No. 50 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for six weeks.
According to The Official Charts Company, “We Love You” was far more popular in the United Kingdom. There, it peaked at No. 8 and stayed on the chart for eight weeks.
“We Love You” is an interesting song, even if John wasn’t a fan.
