Paul McCartney’s ‘Rude Awakening’ About the Way He Treated John Lennon

Paul McCartney has long had a reputation for being demanding of both himself and the musicians he surrounds himself with. This personality trait is his way of ensuring the music he writes and creates is the best possible before releasing it to the public. However, in a vintage interview, McCartney shared his “rude awakening” about how he treated his friend and fellow The Beatles member John Lennon when they worked together on the band’s music.

Paul McCartney has always been sensible and ‘careful’

When pursuing his life’s passion, McCartney always acted sensible and “careful.” It was a character trait instilled in him by his father, James.

He admitted to GQ that he is “more careful in everything.” McCartney said, “My dad is a very strong factor in this. He was an ordinary working-class guy, very intelligent and good with words. But his whole philosophy was to think it out a bit. So, that turned out to be my sort of way.”

However, he realized he also found another teacher in his best pal and bandmate, John Lennon. McCartney explained, “John, you’ve got to remember, didn’t have a father. John didn’t even have an uncle.”

He continued, “He went to live with his uncle—the uncle died. His dad had run away. So John felt like he was a jinx on the male line, he told me. I had a father. He was always spouting to be tolerant. Moderation. He used these words a lot, and I think I listened.”

However, he once had a ‘rude awakening’ about his relationship with John Lennon

‘Help!’ was hurriedly filmed in a single day. For the video, the band were supplied with only a plank (to sit on), an umbrella and a shower of fake snow.⁠ https://t.co/yozI9iahMH pic.twitter.com/bclJNq7ZbH

— The Beatles (@thebeatles) November 24, 2022

McCartney assessed his long relationship with Lennon in a 1982 interview with New Music Express, as reprinted by the website Beatles Interviews. He said he had a “rude awakening” about their friendship in his later years.

“I wake in the morning and go to bed at night, and whatever happens during the day happens. I don’t know how I am. I’m always getting rude awakenings,” he shared.

“John’s saying I hurt him and did this to him, and that to him was a rude awakening. I’d never thought about that kind of stuff. It was just the way I was and the kind of family I was from. It was a very much different scene from how John was raised,” McCartney continued.

“So I must have rubbed him up the wrong way many times without even knowing, and he was probably more sensitive. But listen– he did it all to me, too. I’m not taking the blame for anything. We just broke up because it busted up. I don’t think I go around trying to be a dictator. I’m just the opposite. If anyone said, ‘Oh, you bloody dictator,’ I’ll say, ‘OK, you do it then.’ I don’t want that responsibility at all,” he concluded.

The Beatles bassist was always known as the most diplomatic of all the band’s members

The Beatles bassist was always known as one of the most diplomatic of band members, including Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. However, he never realized he was reflecting that public image.

McCartney believed that a person speaking diplomatically on behalf of the band was necessary for its survival. He took on that role because “no one else would.”

“It’s the truth. John would never do it, and George [Harrison] wasn’t into it, and Ringo [Starr] would if he liked you, but I’d do it even if I didn’t like you,” he revealed.