The John Lennon song that Paul McCartney misunderstood
John Lennon and Paul McCartney approached writing music differently, meaning their styles complemented one another, but also meant they misunderstood tracks.
(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Music Ā» From The Vault
Tue 21 January 2025 1:00, UK
When John Lennon wrote songs, he always wanted one pivotal factor at the heart of them: the truth. He tried to write as much honest music as possible in The Beatles; however, this came with pushback from other band members. When he became a solo artist, he made a conscious effort to make music that was a true reflection of himself.
With such an affinity for the truth within music, itās hardly a surprise that he became such a big fan of Bob Dylan. Steve Van Zandt once attributed Bob Dylan with being the person who ended the British invasion, as people on board with The Beatles hype became equally enamoured with the folk-rock movement.
āThe floodgates opened until the summer of ā65,ā he said when talking about what it was like to experience the British Invasion first-hand, āWhen the Americans took the charts back with the folk-rock of The Byrds and Bob Dylan.ā
People were drawn to Dylanās music, though, not just because of his music but also because of the honesty with which he wrote. There were no secrets in Bob Dylan, as he explored his emotions, his place in the world, and his view of the world within the words of his songs. John Lennon was such a fan initially that members of The Beatles and fans of his have previously said their album Rubber Soul was essentially Lennon trying to make music like Bob Dylan.
Narrative has always been at the heart of folk music, so Lennon was likely searching for parts of himself that he was willing to reveal to the public at the time. In doing so, he found it difficult to write more profound music, to the point that he ended up writing a song about the fact he couldnāt write a song.
āNowhere Manā was released on the album and was, by John Lennonās admission, a song about how he didnāt feel like this album was going anywhere. āI thought of myself sitting there, doing nothing and getting nowhere,ā he said.
In a separate interview, he provided more information on the writing process. āI remember I was just going through this paranoia trying to write something and nothing would come out,ā he said, āSo I just lay down and tried to not write and then this came out, the whole thing came out in one gulp.ā
Whatās most interesting about the song is that Paul McCartney completely misinterpreted what Lennon was attempting to write about. When discussing the song separately, he said he believed that Lennon was actually writing about the state of his marriage instead of his creative output.
āIt was really an anti-John song. He told me later, he didnāt tell me then, he said heād written it about himself, feeling like he wasnāt going anywhere. I think it was actually about the state of his marriage,ā said McCartney, āIt was in a period where he was a bit dissatisfied with what was going on; however, it led to a very good song. He treated it as a third-person song, but he was clever enough to say, āIsnāt he a bit like you and me?ā ā āMeā being the final word.ā
Related Topics
Bob DylanJohn LennonPaul McCartneyThe Beatles
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