Paul McCartney Said Denial Is the Only Way He Can Deal With John Lennon’s Death
Paul McCartney will forever be in denial about John Lennon‘s death. That’s his coping mechanism. Coming to terms with the fact that his long-time friend, songwriting partner, and bandmate is gone is not possible for Paul. They had their ups and downs like other bandmates or friends, but Paul and John had a special connection.
Paul McCartney said a ‘revisionism’ happened after John Lennon’s death
After Mark David Chapman shot John dead in front of his New York City apartment in 1980, Paul was shocked along with the rest of the world. However, he had to grieve his friend publicly. It wasn’t easy, especially when fans started treating him differently following the tragedy.
Rolling Stone pointed it out during Paul’s 2001 interview. “It seemed that after John died, people often felt that part of praising him meant putting you down,” they said.
“The minute John died, there started to be a revisionism,” Paul explained. “There were some strange quotes, like, ‘John was the only one in the Beatles.’ Or ‘Paul booked the studio’ — I don’t want to get into who said what, but that was attributed to someone who very much knew better.
“‘John was the Mozart; Paul was the Salieri.’ Like, John was the real genius, and I was just the guy who sang ‘Yesterday’ — and I got lucky to do that. Even with John in that song [‘How Do You Sleep‘], when he sang, ‘The only thing you done was yesterday.’
“I tried to ignore it, but it built into an insecurity. People would say, ‘Paul, people know.’ I said, ‘Yeah, but what about fifty years in the future?’ If this revisionism gets around, a lot of kids will be like, ‘Did he have a group before Wings?’ There may come a time when people won’t know.
“It was only after we’d stopped working together it even reared its ugly head — the whole idea of who wrote what.
“Really, John once said to me, ‘I wonder how I’ll be remembered.’ I was kind of shocked. I said, ‘I’ll tell you how you’ll be remembered: You’re great. But you won’t be here. It won’t matter to you, so don’t worry about it.’ And I thought, ‘Why’d he get into that?’ But now I understand.”
Despite Paul’s insecurities that developed after John’s death, he did miss his friend.
Paul said denial is the only way he can deal with John’s death
Understandably, Paul is still not over John’s death almost 45 years later.
In 2020, he told The Telegraph that it’s been hard coming to terms with his friend’s death, “so much so that I can’t really think about it. It kind of implodes. What can you think about that besides anger, sorrow? Like any bereavement, the only way out is to remember how good it was with John.
“Because I can’t get over the senseless act. I can’t think about it. I’m sure it’s some form of denial. But denial is the only way that I can deal with it.”
Paul often says, ‘Hello,’ to John when he walks past the funeral parlor
According to The Telegraph, Paul often walks past Frank Campbell’s funeral parlor, where John’s body was taken after his death.
“I never pass it without saying: ‘All right, John. Hi, John,'” Paul said. He does a similar thing for George Harrison, the only other deceased Beatle. Paul told NPR that George once gifted him a tree. Since George’s 2001 death, the tree has become very special to Paul. Whenever he walks by it, he greets George.
“It’s a big fir tree, and it’s by my gate,” Paul explained. “As I was leaving my house this morning, I get out of the car, close the gate and look up at the tree and say, ‘Hi, George.’ There he is, growing strongly. As the years go by, every time I look at it I go, ‘That’s the tree George gave me.’ George has entered that tree for me. I hope he’s happy with that.”
Paul has also revealed that he consults John’s spirit during the songwriting process, just as he used to do when the pair were bandmates. Paul will never forget John or George. Their spirits are with him and guide him.
