Why The Beatles’ ‘All My Loving’ Broke New Ground for Paul McCartney
Fans often point to The Beatles’ more experimental songs as their breakthroughs. Paul McCartney wrote The Beatles’ “All My Loving” in a manner that was completely new for him. John Lennon said it was “unfortunate” that Paul mostly composed the song by himself.
Paul McCartney conceived of The Beatles’ ‘All My Loving’ as a country song
In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul said “All My Loving” was a bit of an anomaly. “It was the first song I’d ever written the words first,” he recalled. “I never wrote words first, it was always some kind of accompaniment. I’ve hardly ever done it since either.”
Paul explained how the lyrics of “All My Loving” came together. “We were on a tour bus going to a gig and so I started with the words,” he said. “I had in my mind a little country and Western song.” While Paul intended for “All My Loving” to have a country influence, the final product is one of many bubblegum rock ‘n’ roll tunes from the Fab Four’s early career. It sounds like other simple Beatles singles from 1962 to 1964, such as “Love Me Do,” “She Loves You,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
The Beatles’ song came together in a place that is a bingo hall now
Paul recalled the milieu in which he penned “All My Loving.” “We played the Moss Empire [theater] circuit a lot, and there were always these nice big empty backstage areas,” he said. “The places have all become bingo halls now.
“We arrived at the gig and I remember being in one of these big backstage areas and there was a piano there so I’d got my instrument,” he said. “I didn’t have a guitar, it was probably with our road manager, and I remember working the tune out to it on the piano. It was a good show song, it worked well live.”
John Lennon seemed jealous that he wasn’t the primary composer of ‘All My Loving’
The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John Lennon was asked about “All My Loving.” John said the song was Paul’s, which the “Power to the People” singer felt was “unfortunate.”
John was asked why he felt that way. He said it was because “All My Loving” was so good! John, however, did praise his guitar work on the track.
John said Paul knew how to write good lyrics when he was a “good boy.” The “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” star also discussed how his contributions to The Beatles differed. John said he brought sadness, discordant notes, and a bluesy edge to the band. On the other hand, Paul’s contributions were lighter and more optimistic. John saw his work as more rock ‘n’ roll while Paul’s was more melodic, though John felt he wrote great melodies for tunes like “In My Life” and “This Boy.”
“All My Loving” was a breakthrough for Paul and John recognized its greatness.
