The Beatles’ ‘We Can Work It Out’: John Lennon Said His Lyrics For the Song Were ‘Impatient’

The Beatles‘ “We Can Work It Out” was a collaboration between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. John felt his lyrics for the song were impatient while Paul’s were optimistic. On the other hand, Paul had different memories of who wrote which lyrics.

John Lennon discussed what he was like before and after he was in The Beatles

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono includes a 1980 interview. In it, John discusses “We Can Work It Out.” “In ‘We Can Work It Out,’ Paul did the first half, I did the middle eight,” he recalled.

John contrasted the lines he wrote for the song with the lines Paul wrote for it. “But you’ve got Paul writing, ‘We can work it out/We can work it out’ — real optimistic, y’know, and me, impatient: ‘Life is very short and there’s no time/For fussing and fighting, my friend,'” he said.

John felt these lines showed Paul was more of a storyteller and he was more of a philosopher. “Well, I was always like that, you know,” he opined. “I was like that before The Beatles and after The Beatles.

“I always asked why people did things and why society was like it was,” he added. “I didn’t just accept it for what it was apparently doing. I always looked below the surface.”

Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ ‘We Can Work It Out’ was initially a country song

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed “We Can Work It Out.” Paul said the song was initially in a different genre. “I wrote it as a more up-tempo thing, country and Western,” he recalled.

Paul remembered writing the song’s “impatient” lines with John. “I had the idea, the title, had a couple of verses and the basic idea for it, then I took it to John to finish it off and we wrote the middle together,” he said. “Which is nice: ‘Life is very short. There’s no time for fussing and fighting, my friend.'”

How ‘We Can Work It Out’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“We Can Work It Out” was a huge hit in the United States. For three of its 12 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, the song was No. 1. The track appeared on The Beatles’ 1962-1966. The compilation reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and lasted on the chart for 175 weeks in total.

“Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out” were a double A-side single in the United Kingdom. The Official Charts Company reports the tracks topped the U.K. chart for five weeks, staying on the chart for 12 weeks. In 1985, the tracks recharted at No. 79 and stayed on the chart for three weeks.

“Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It Out” appeared on 1962-1966. The album reached No. 3, staying on the chart for 167 weeks.

“We Can Work It Out” was a hit even if its lyrics are “impatient.”