Skip to main content

TL;DR:

  • John Lennon’s son, Julian Lennon, inspired one song from The Beatles’ The White Album.
  • Paul McCartney said the song was “very beautiful.”
  • Ringo Starr performed vocals on the track.
John Lennon and his son, Julian Lennon, near stuffed animals
John Lennon and his son, Julian Lennon | Keystone-France / Contributor

Paul McCartney once said John Lennon’s son, Julian Lennon, inspired John to write one song from The Beatles‘ The White Album. In an interview, John confirmed this was the case. In addition, he compared it to a song from his solo career that he wrote for his other son, Sean Ono Lennon.

John Lennon’s son, Julian Lennon, inspired a song from The Beatles’ ‘The White Album’ that Paul McCartney liked

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed the final song on The White Album. “You could almost be forgiven for thinking “Good Night” was mine, because it’s so soft and melodic and so un-John,” Paul said. “I believe John wrote this as a lullaby for Julian, and it was a very beautiful song that Ringo ended up singing to the accompaniment of a big string orchestra.”

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono includes an interview from 1980. In it, John said he wrote “Good Night” for Julian. He compared the song to “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” from Double Fantasy, which he wrote for his other son, Sean.

Why Ringo Starr sang The Beatles’ ‘Good Night’ instead of John Lennon

In Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul explained why Ringo Starr sang “Good Night.” “I think John felt it might not be good for his image for him to sing it but it was fabulous to hear him do it, he sang it great,” he said. “We heard him sing it in order to teach it to Ringo and he sang it very tenderly.

“John rarely showed his tender side, but my key memories of John are when he was tender, that’s what has remained with me; those moments where he showed himself to be a very generous, loving person,” Paul continued. “I always cite that song as an example of the John beneath the surface that we only saw occasionally.”

Related

How The Beatles’ ‘White Album’ Helped Inspire a Beach Boys Movie Soundtrack

How ‘Good Night’ and ‘The White Album’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“Good Night” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The track appeared on The White Album. The album was No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for nine weeks, staying on the chart for a total of 215 weeks.

“Good Night” was not a single in the United Kingdom either; therefore, The Official Charts Company says the tune did not chart there. Meanwhile, The White Album was No. 1 for eight weeks in the U.K., spending 37 weeks on the chart altogether.

Best in Entertainment