Paul Simon Ranked Paul McCartney as a Better Songwriter Than John Lennon or Bob Dylan

Paul Simon knew Paul McCartney and John Lennon were competitive, but he had a clear idea of which Beatle was the better songwriter. Simon placed McCartney in his top tier of songwriters, in a class above Lennon, Bob Dylan, and himself. Though Simon did not welcome comparisons to Dylan, he could still rank his talents highly.

Paul Simon knew Paul McCartney and John Lennon were competitive

Lennon and McCartney met as teenagers and began writing songs together. Despite their collaboration, the two musicians competed for control over The Beatles. After the band broke up, they competed for higher levels of success in their solo careers. Sometimes, this provided them with creative drive.

“You know, I heard a story recently from a guy who used to record with John [Lennon] in New York, and he said that John would get lazy — but then he’d hear a song of mine where he thought, ‘Oh, s***, Paul’s putting it in, Paul’s working!’” McCartney told Billboard in 2001. “Apparently [Coming Up] was one song that got John recording again. I think John just thought, ‘Uh oh, I better get working, too’ [beams]. I thought that was a nice story.”

Simon witnessed the bandmates’ competitive spirit and said it was overwhelming. 

“Simply wanting to make the best music can make you competitive,” he said, per the book Paul Simon: The Life by Robert Hilburn. “You have no idea how competitive John Lennon was around Paul McCartney. When I first met them, I felt like someone had taken all the oxygen out of the room. I almost couldn’t breathe, they were so competitive, and that’s what made them so great. They wouldn’t settle for just good. That was me, too.”

Paul Simon ranked Paul McCartney above John Lennon and Bob Dylan

Lennon and McCartney competed with each other for years, but Simon had a clear idea of who was the better writer. He ranked songwriters on tiers, and McCartney, not Lennon, made the cut for his top tier.

“I’d put Gershwin, Berlin, and Hank Williams [on top]. I’d probably put Paul McCartney in there too,” he said, per Gothamist. “Then I’d have Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.”

Lennon and Dylan, who Simon was often compared to, were on the second tier. He tentatively placed himself there as well.

“Then, in the second tier, Lennon is there, Dylan is there, Bob Marley and Stephen Sondheim are there, and maybe I’m there, too,” he said. “It’s about whose songs last.”

The ‘Sound of Silence’ singer did not like being compared to Bob Dylan 

Despite his appraisal of Dylan’s talent, Simon did not like when people compared them. 

“I usually come in second to (to Dylan), and I don’t like coming in second,” he told Rolling Stone (via The Guardian). “In the beginning, when we were first signed to Columbia, I really admired Dylan’s work. The Sound of Silence wouldn’t have been written if it weren’t for Dylan. But I left that feeling around The Graduate and ‘Mrs. Robinson.’ They weren’t folky anymore.”