Paul McCartney Revealed a New Layer to His John Lennon Dreams That Make Them Sound More Like Nightmares
Paul McCartney and John Lennon shared a strong bond and intimate creative process. They took their sizable individual songwriting skills to another level when they collaborated on songs for The Beatles. The band’s break-up got a little ugly but seeing a photo of him and John writing a song together helped Macca remember he wasn’t the villain of the band’s split. Paul still dreams of John often, but he once described a new layer to those dreams that make them sound more like nightmares.
Paul McCartney still dreams of John Lennon
Sir Paul has made it no secret that John still pops up in his dreams even 40 years after his death. And it makes sense. They lived a nearly shared existence in The Beatles. John and Paul wrote songs together, played together for over a decade, and shared hotel rooms even when they were fronting the biggest band on the planet.
Making music brought John and Paul together and keeps them tied together more than 60 years after The Beatles made it big. So when Paul dreams of John, it’s not surprising to learn the scenes center on making music. Preparing for a gig or sitting in the recording studio chatting away are common scenes in Paul’s dream world.
Yet Paul once revealed another layer to his John Lennon dreams that make them sound more like nightmares.
Paul’s dreams of John sometimes turn into what sound like nightmares: ‘I often have band dreams, and they’re crazy’
The setting and situation are often benign when Paul dreams of John, but he revealed a new layer to Stephen Colbert (via YouTube) that makes the dreams sound more like nightmares for a musician:
“I love it when people revisit you in your dreams. So I often have band dreams, and they’re crazy. I’m often with John, just talking about doing something, and I go to get my Hofner bass, ready to play, and it’s covered in sticky tape. Gah! You know, dreams. So I’m picking all this stuff off and trying to talk to him. I’ve had a lot of dreams about John, and they’re always good.”
Paul McCartney describes one of his John Lennon dreams
For a professional musician like Paul, a dream in which your signature instrument is rendered unplayable sounds more like a nightmare. His bass being covered in sticky tape in the dream is akin to Ringo playing what he called the weird Beatles song “Rain” with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Or George Harrison trying to play the sitar while wearing oven mitts he can’t remove.
We knew Paul dreamed of John, but his bass being covered in tape is a new layer he accurately described.
John and Paul buried the hatchet before Lennon died
The close and fruitful relationship between Paul and John that powered The Beatles soured by the end of the 1960s. When the band splintered, the duo tossed barbs on their solo records.
Luckily for the lifelong friends, the bad blood didn’t last, and they definitely made up before John’s death in 1980. The two found themselves sharing a recording studio in 1974. Unfortunately for music fans, their jam session (with others present) didn’t lead to any recorded songs. Paul and John got back on speaking terms and rekindled their friendship before Lennon tragically died.
They shared a lifelong friendship and a musical mind in The Beatles. It’s not a shock to hear that Paul McCartney dreams of John Lennon, but the added wrinkle of a tape-covered bass makes them seem more like a nightmare.
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