(Credits: Far Out / Eric Koch for Anefo)
Mon 27 October 2025 14:00, UK
Think carefully now, and answer this question honestly to yourself. Are you truly a John Lennon fan or a Paul McCartney devotee, in terms of categorising your Beatles fandom?
To some, this is a pointless exercise and ultimately seeks to undermine the joint greatness of the band. Of course, you can admire all parts somewhat equally and allow the contrast of the two songwriters’ styles to drive your love for the band. But I want to get down to the nitty-gritty and find out what sort of person you are by aligning you with one of two camps.
Does the deeply melodic style of Paul McCartney sit on your shoulder, like an ever-present songbird, or does the somewhat warped view of Lennon’s world sit on the other like a miniature devil who has replaced a pitchfork with a guitar? Because, despite the creative telepathy that may have thrust this band into stardom in the early 1960s, there was a distinct difference between the pair that manifested itself in lightness and darkness. In that essence lies the intrigue of so many fans who are desperate to find out just what camp you fall into.
When you take their individual hits for the band, these differences become even more apparent. Take 1965, for example. While McCartney was pining for love on his iconic hit ‘Yesterday’, Lennon was drowning in isolation with the incredibly dark and despondent ‘Help’. They were two starkly different souls who, in spite of their collaboration, each had individual tracks that simply couldn’t have been sung by anybody but themselves. The melody on ‘Blackbird’, for example, felt inherently McCartney, while ‘I Am The Walrus’ could only be sung by the surrealist mind of Lennon.
There were, however, some songs that slipped through the net of that expectation; maybe McCartney’s voice would have rode the melody of ‘In My Life’ with a heightened intrigue. But what about vice versa? What classic McCartney song could Lennon have taken and heightened?
While there is a case to be made for the rockier ‘Helter Skelter’ or the haunting ‘Fool On The Hill’, the most obvious answer feels like ‘Oh Darling’ from Abbey Road. It showcased the sort of painfully strained vocal that made Lennon’s voice so compelling and was consequently the reason why Lennon himself thought he could do a better job.
“‘Oh! Darling’ was a great one of Paul’s that he didn’t sing too well,” he boldly claimed, adding, “I always thought that I could’ve done it better.”
He continued, citing the strained creative processes that were beginning to prevail come 1969 and Abbey Road, explaining, “He wrote it, so what the hell, he’s going to sing it,” before concluding his critique by saying, “If he’d had any sense, he should have let me sing it.”
I would be hesitant to agree with Lennon’s two key points, that McCartney didn’t sing the track very well and that he lacked sense. However, to hear Lennon’s vocal take on this track, particularly during a time when their personal rivalry was so intense, would have been pretty goddamn interesting. Those powerful, strained notes would have taken on new life with Lennon at the helm, as he would have tried to assert his dominance over his songwriting partner.
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