I was downloading some Beatles tunes off of iTunes this morning and it struck me that all the songs I wanted - “Paperback Writer” “Norwegian Wood” “Baby You’re a Rich Man” “Dear Prudence” had the unmistakeable stamp of being more of a Lennon than a McCartney composition. Paul’s stuff - “Yesterday” “I Saw Her Standing There” “Got to Get You Into My Life” 'Penny Lane" - I tended to skip over more readily.
So I just wondered what the Teeming Millions thought - which of the songwriters on the legendary team do you prefer? Or do you prefer Harrison? (Nothing against Ringo, but I don’t think he’ll rate highly in this poll.) Just curious.
I prefer Lennon. Paperback Writer is actually Paul’s, btw, and I think Baby You’re a Rich Man is one of those where they wrote different sections, verse John, chorus Paul.
([edit] I wish people wouldn’t append joky little opinions to poll options. It makes me reluctant to vote for the one I would otherwise pick. I voted Lennon, but I could “imagine life without his music”.)
As George Martin once said, “There’s not a cigarette paper’s worth of difference between the two.” I lean toward Paul because he was a slightly better songwriter, and was far more prolific (during the Beatles era.)
I like Paul. I know Lennon gets all the love and evidently when he was alive some people thought he was the second coming of Christ, or something, but he always struck me as too ‘out there’. I think they’re both (or were both) equally talented musicians, but Paul seems like more of a regular guy.
I couldn’t vote in this poll because I found that I like both John and Paul’s music about equally. In fact your post indicates this perfectly. You list four songs by John and four songs by Paul – I like all eight about the same.
McCartney’s songs touch me more deeply, and I think his music is more interesting (while Lennon’s lyrics are better). But it’s a very tough call indeed.
Ditto. Lennon gets to be liked 'cause of his music, but if you choose McCartney, it’s 'cause “he’s so dreamy.” C’mon.
Actually he lists 5.5 songs by Paul and 2.5 by John.
This is a wet blanket anwer, but I vote for The Beatles. The solo work of both John and Paul showed that they needed each other – Lennon needed McCartney’s infalliable pop instincts to reign in his eccentricities and turn his ideas into listenable music; McCartney needed Lennon to push him into doing new and outrageous things instead of just writing successful but untranscendant radio hits. Each of them (George too) did good work after the break-up, but if either one of them was the true heart of the Beatles – rather than that being in the collaboration – you would have expected one of them to put out an album as good as the Beatles albums. I don’t think they did, and few would make the case – although to be fair, I certainly don’t know their solo catalogues as well as I know the Fab Four’s.
Wrong, actually. Lennon wrote more songs for the Beatles than McCartney. McCartney started to become more prolific in the later years (especially on Abbey Road), but he never caught up to Lennon’s early lead.
It’s my impression that John gets credit for stuff that Paul actually did, more often than vice versa. And that some of the credit John gets for being “edgy, political, and introspective” is really just John being a self-centered ass. So I voted for Paul, if only to redress the balance. But they were both immensely talented, and I love 'em both—all four of them, actually.
Paul was a far better musician. John never considered himself to be more than a mediocre guitar player, while Paul was an awesome bass player. However John’s songs were far more groundbreaking and innovative than Paul’s. Consider “She’s Leaving Home” vs. “Lucy in the Sky…” Consider the differences between John’s verses in “A Day in the Life” and Paul’s single verse. Paul, while an excellent song writer, always had one foot firmly in the music hall and pop tradition, while John always had one foot in the future.
It has to be John Lennon. He really was the voice of the Beatles. Birmingham, England 1964, I had been out for the evening with a friend and on the way home, noticed a number of people in sleeping bags in New Street – main shopping street – why the sleeping bags? As they were telling us, a Policeman said, you lot can’t sleep here, you’ll have to form a queue around the corner. Since we were fully dressed, we got to be first in the new queue. My mate went home to let our families know where we are and returned with blankets to keep ourselves warm. The next morning, - it was a Sunday – we bought our tickets, 2 for the front row. The day game, various bands appeared and then, it went pitch black, an orange light shone, the curtains opened and as Ringo slammed his sticks down John’s voice let rip and there was pandemonium as he belted out a Beatles classic: Twist and Shout. “Well, shake it up baby now Twist and shout Come on, come on, come, come on baby now come on and work it on out…” Magic!
Can’t vote. It comes down to more than “John was a rebel and Paul is dreamy” to me. It’s very hard for me to choose between the two, they had their own strengths and meshed well together. Depends on my mood, really.
And…while I don’t put George up in the same category as John and Paul, many of his Beatles songs are favorites.
My favorite Beatle was Paul. My favorite EX-Beatle was George.
John was a great songwriter and a brilliant comedian (if he’d never done anything but the bathtub/submarine scene in “Hard Day’s Night,” I’d be a fan). He also wrote and song some of my favorite songs. Unfortunately, he also produced a lot of self-indulgent crud.
Of course, the “Magical Mystery Tour” fiasco was mostly Paul’s idea… so it’s a close call.
Undeniably, both John and Paul were musical geniuses. However, I always preferred John’s edginess and witty turn of phrase.
Post-Beatles, I especially enjoyed “How Do You Sleep” off of Imagine. While Paul’s efforts after the Beatles can be enjoyable, I don’t think he ever achieved the heights John did.
John was the far superior lyricist, but I think Paul was the better songwriter and musician. That said, it was their collaboration that truly elevated their work to historic heights. As much as I enjoy some of their solo work, none of it even comes close to what Lennon-McCartney did together.