The Beatles Song John Lennon Gave to Ringo Starr That Showed His ‘Tender Side’

John Lennon was the least emotional member of The Beatles. He rarely complimented his bandmates and often wrote many of the band’s more dour songs. However, he once gave Ringo Starr a song to sing, which Paul McCartney said showed his “tender side.”

John Lennon wrote ‘Good Night’ for his son, but gave it to Ringo Starr

“Good Night” is a song from The Beatles’ The White Album written by John Lennon, but features Ringo Starr on lead vocals. In an interview with David Sheff, Lennon said he initially wrote the tune for his son, Julian, but he decided to give it to Starr. 

‘Good Night’ was written for Julian, the way ‘Beautiful Boy’ was written for Sean… but given to Ringo and possibly overlush,” Lennon said.

In a 1968 interview, Starr noted that the song sounded very different from anything else Lennon has written. It sounds more like a track by McCartney, but Starr cleared things up. 

“Everybody thinks Paul wrote ‘Goodnight’ for me to sing, but it was John who wrote it for me,” Starr said. “He’s got a lot of soul, John has.”

Paul McCartney said the Beatles song showed John Lennon had a ‘tender side’

In Barry Miles’ Many Years From Now, Paul McCartney discussed “Good Night”. The “Let it Be” singer said that the song didn’t match John Lennon’s reputation with The Beatles, which could be why he gave it to Ringo. However, he heard Lennon sing it a few times, and it’s an example of a song that showed off his “tender side.”

“I think John felt it might not be good for his image for him to sing it but it was fabulous to hear him do it, he sang it great. We heard him sing it in order to teach it to Ringo and he sang it very tenderly. John rarely showed his tender side, but my key memories of John are when he was tender, that’s what has remained with me; those moments where he showed himself to be a very generous, loving person. I always cite that song as an example of the John beneath the surface that we only saw occasionally… I don’t think John’s version was ever recorded.”

Lennon wrote another song for Starr in his solo career

“Good Night” isn’t the only song John Lennon wrote for Ringo Starr. He also gave him “I’m the Greatest”, which appeared on his 1973 album Ringo. In a similar situation, Lennon felt the song wouldn’t work with his reputation. If he said, “I’m the Greatest,” many listeners would be annoyed since the former Beatle was known for having an inflated ego. 

“‘I’m the Greatest.’ It was the Muhammad Ali line, of course,” Lennon told Sheff. “It was perfect for Ringo to sing. If I said, ‘I’m the greatest,’ they’d all take it so seriously. No one would get upset with Ringo singing it.”

In a later interview, Starr agreed with Lennon’s assessment, saying, “Only [John] could have written it, and only I could have sung it.”