Lennon vs McCartney
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You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
The age old question
I'd go with McCartney, I'd say he was an overall more talented songwriter (although Lennon was great too, Plastic Ono Band is a great record)
>Favorite Lennon song
Come Together
>Favorite McCarney song
Blackbird
McCartney wrote better songs; Lennon made better songs
>>66060776
what do you mean?
i mean, lennon, easily
>best lennon song
rain
>best mccartney song
got to get you into my life
>>66060776
lol actually total opposite imo.
>>66060776
lennon actually wrote songs about real feelings and emotions paul just wrote about random ass characters and bullshit. paul wrote better chords and better arrangements but john wrote better songs if you just strip them down to chords melody and vocal performance. also i like johns voice better
>>66060819
I mean McCartney's songs are often more complex and intricate in their writing, and would usually be better than Lennon's songs in a basic arrangment, but Lennon's songs, despite being a lot simpler, ended up sounding better a lot of the time due to their arrangements or production, which were often more complex than on most of McCartney's songs.
Paul if you like pop, John if you like rock.
>>66060980
nice
Musically Paul is a god. Lyrically, not so much.
John was just a master songwriter with tonnes to talk about.
Together they were fucking unreal.
Pic Related might be their best
>>66061040
I hate how everyone treats this as a contrarian opinion, when it's obviously the right one.
Lennon is hands down the best lyricist, but McCartney is one of the most brilliant songwriters of all time, an ear for melody like no other. He wrote the goddamn Abbey Road medley, he makes Abbey Road into the best Beatles record. Focusing especially on the song Golden Slumbers, it lasts 1:32 but it might just be the best on the album, the emotion that song evokes when it hits the climax is incredible, most songs cant match that, and it doesn't even last 2 minutes. It flows right into Carry That Weight, also a fantastic song that reprises a couple of other choruses from the record and brings it's own catchy chorus into the mix, that song is a brilliant concept to me and has always been one of my favorite Beatles tracks.
>>66060948
Oh, i get what you're saying now, I agree to an extent. That's why I mentioned Plastic Ono Band in my original post, all the songs are so simple, yet its an excellent record.
>>66061040
>together they were fucking unreal
I agree, two phenomenal song writers in one band, one excellent in melody and the other in lyrics, that's what made The Beatles
I don't know why people say Paul was more musically interesting than John. John had melodies that were just as complex as Paul's. He also experimented more in time signatures than Paul. Sonically, John was also more experimental, innovating in tape loops, guitar sounds, and whatnot. At this point it's pretty obvious that John was better at making emotional songs. The only way Paul was at all better than John was at playing his instrument.
>>66060732
Paul McCartney held the Beatles together from 1966-1969. He was the only one who cared about the MUSIC while John was interested in political statements and Yoko and George was into meditation and Indian weabooism. Ringo was always Ringo. Paul also had solo albums that were better than a lot of Beatles material. Not to say McCartney was a god or anything, far from. He just had the most righteous path as far as music is concerned.
>thus /mu/ thread
Paul McCartney is the obvious choice.
>Favorite Lennon song
Happiness is a Warm Gun
>Favorite McCarney song
I've Just Seen a Face
>Favorite Harrison song
It's All Too Much
>Favorite Starr song
Don't Pass Me By
>>66060732
paul being the best beatle and having the best solo career is a meme like /tv/ sayin BvS was a good movie right guys?
>>66061201
this is probably the most contrarian post I've ever read
>>66061241
wrong
>>66061201
how would you rank Plastic Ono Band, RAM, and All Things Must Pass?
>>66061266
Plastic Ono Band > RAM > All Things Must Pass
>>66061040
the pinnacle of Lennon/McCartney is undoubly A Day In The Life
I think it's pretty obvious that Macca was the genius of the band.
>Favorite Lennon song
I'm Only Sleeping
>Favorite McCartney song
I'm Looking Through You
>>66061257
he's right. After Epstein died, paul tried to step into that role, and of course it got on everyone's nerves. Then compound that with Yoko, drugs, Hindiuism, and so on and you have a breakup. Oh and they lost tons of money
>>66061241
No, it's a perfectly valid opinion. A meme opinion would be to say Pete was the best
>>66061295
agreed, the best Beatles song. It shows just how powerful Lennon and McCartney were when put together
>>66060894
McCartney had an objectively better vocal range. I completely agree John had more "soul" in his voice, but when you strip them down to just melody and vocal performance, nothing else Paul comes on top easily, especially if it's on paper.
Plebian: Paul
Contratian: George
Patrician: John
>>66061295
Lennon/McCartney wasn't really Lennon/McCartney except in the very, very early days. They wrote maybe a fifth of Lennon/McCartney songs together.
>>66061201
You can be interested in both music and politics/spirituality.
>>66061354
Exactly. Paul's voice is amazing. John's voice is iconic.
>>66061162
>John was also more experimental, innovating in tape loops, guitar sounds, and whatnot.
paul was into alot of that just didnt put it on record desu
was big in london avant garde bs before he got married or lennon got a hold
>>66061257
There's nothing contrarian about that post. Those are pretty well known facts. Sgt Pepper's? Paul's idea. Magical Mystery Tour? Paul's idea. That entire second half of Abbey Road? Paul's doing.
>>66061396
that's not true. They would always work on eachother's songs. They were written apart but the actual recording and arrangement (and many middle 8s) came from Paul
>>66061266
Ram > Plastic Ono > All Things Must Pass
All Things Must Pass is still a fantastic album, but it's bloated with a lot of boring songs like I Remember Jeep.
>>66061320
>>66061419
With contrarian I meant the songs he picked up as favorites
>>66061390
you got pleb and patrician wrong
Lennon is the cool answer, so people who don't know much about the beatles will answer Lennon every time
>>66061471
mate I've been a fan of the Beatles my entire life, I know what I'm talking about.
WHO HAS THE BEST SONGS ON THE WHITE ALBUM
1. "Back in the U.S.S.R." McCartney 2:43
2. "Dear Prudence" Lennon 3:56
3. "Glass Onion" Lennon 2:17
4. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" McCartney 3:08
5. "Wild Honey Pie" McCartney 0:52
6. "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" Lennon 3:14
7. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (George Harrison) Harrison 4:45
8. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" Lennon 2:43
Side two
No. Title Lead vocals Length
9. "Martha My Dear" McCartney 2:28
10. "I'm So Tired" Lennon 2:03
11. "Blackbird" McCartney 2:18
12. "Piggies" (Harrison) Harrison 2:04
13. "Rocky Raccoon" McCartney 3:33
14. "Don't Pass Me By" (Ringo Starr) Starr 3:51
15. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" McCartney 1:41
16. "I Will" McCartney 1:46
17. "Julia" Lennon 2:54
Side three
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Birthday" McCartney and Lennon 2:42
2. "Yer Blues" Lennon 4:01
3. "Mother Nature's Son" McCartney 2:48
4. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" Lennon 2:24
5. "Sexy Sadie" Lennon 3:15
6. "Helter Skelter" McCartney 4:29
7. "Long, Long, Long" (Harrison) Harrison 3:04
Side four
No. Title Lead vocals Length
8. "Revolution 1" Lennon 4:15
9. "Honey Pie" McCartney 2:41
10. "Savoy Truffle" (Harrison) Harrison 2:54
11. "Cry Baby Cry" Lennon, with McCartney 3:02
12. "Revolution 9" Speaking from Lennon, Harrison, George Martin and Yoko Ono 8:22
13. "Good Night" Starr
>>66061257
John said it himself in later interviews. In fact, the entire reason Lennon came out of his mid/late 70s retirement was because of the success McCartney was having with his own solo music.
>>66061437
Arrangement isn't composition. I'm talking purely from a composition standpoint. By the White Album they were pretty much solo writers. Both said it in the Anthology (well, Lennon did earlier and McCartney said in the Anthology but still)
>>66061471
Nah it's more like
Pleb: Paul
Contrarian: George (or Ringo)
Patrician: Paul
>>66061295
Undoubtably, that's the Beatles stairway to heaven, beautiful song
>>66061461
I've been a Beatles fan for over 20 years. I've had time to sort through everything.
>>66061502
Best song: Happiness Is a Warm Gun
Worst song: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
>>66061500
ok calm down, they're the fucking beatles, i've been a fan of them all my life too
I was not saying Lennon isn't a valid answer, I was just saying that it's the go-to answer for people who don't know anything about the beatles because he was the cool protest guy who's dead. He was a fantastic songwriter too
>>66061471
This. Kinda the same as normies who think Hey Jude is the best Beatles song.
Plebeian: John
Contrarian: George
Patrician: Paul
>>66060732
McCartney
I like his more straight-forward, story-like lyrics as opposed to John's abstract stuff.
Favourite McCartney song: Oh! Darling
Favourite Lennon song: Yer Blues
>>66061543
The Beatles didn't steal A Day in the Life...
>>66061564
>he doesn't like Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
>>66061565
Plebs also use Paul a lot because they like Hey Jude, Let it Be, etc.
>>66061631
Fucking this.
Hating Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da is false patrician opinion. It's actually plebian trying to look sophist-mi-cated
>>66061502
The only one who doesn't have a 10/10 is Ringo.
>mfw redditors on r/music were trying to argue that Harrison was more musically talented than Lennon and McCartney
I thought /mu/ was full of contrarians. That subreddit is pure cancer.
>>66061676
Well Ringo only has one song in it lmao
>>66061659
yeah, he also wrote Yesterday, but Lennon has imagine
although most people don't know who wrote individual beatles songs
Fav McCartney Song: Honey Pie (I think)
Fav Lennon Song: Don't Let me Down
>>66061703
McCartney is the most talented musician in rock and roll, anyone who says otherwise is just wrong.
John and Paul were both great musicians, but I think John was far more experimental, soulful, and influential than Paul. Paul is definitely and acceptable answer tho.
George and Ringo are meme opinions.
>>66061703
Eh, tbqh I can see the point being made that Harrison was better from a purely music standpoint than Lennon. But yeah, McCartney kicks both of their asses.
Fun fact: Harrison taught Bob Dylan a significant amount of the chords he knows.
>>66061703
To be fair, Harrison was as good a songwriter as McCartney or Lennon. I you made an album with just the songs he made with the Beatles it'd be easily an 8/10 minimum.
Fav McCartney song: Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight / The End
Fav Lennon song: Strawberry Fields Forever
Fav song Lennon & McCartney wrote together: A Day In The Life
Fav Harrison song: While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Fav Starr song: Octopus's Garden
>>66061763
Didn't Harrison and Bob Dylan write each other songs after the Beatles broke up? Harrison recorded If Not For You (written by Dylan) and I can't remember what Dylan recorded of Harrison's
>>66061837
They were in The Travelling Wilburys together as well.
>>66061861
Don't bring up the Travelling Willburys.
>>66061837
Mama you've been on my mind was another one the two shared
>>66061401
I agree. Paul had the best balance.
>>66061899
The Travelling Wilburys were great though.
>>66061837
There's a bootleg of them in 69 or the early 70s having a practice/jam sessions.
[spoiler]They both make fun of Yesterday[/spoiler].
>>66061934
That's one thing I never got about John, he was so in-your-face about all the shit going on and bringing the shrieking banshee with him at all times, and Paul was just like "WTF dude, we're still in a band"
Lennon/McCartney>McCartney>Lennon>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Harrison
>muh something
>muh guitar gently weeps
Fuck off Harrison fags, you're nothing more than contrarians
>>66061974
Paul didn't want to be a band lmao. He wanted to be the leader. He was always bossing people around. He even made fucking Ringo quit during the White Album sessions
>>66061710
two
>>66062005
Ok now, I am a huge McCartney fag, but this is unfair to George.
>>66062039
Good Night was written by John
>>66062030
Yeah but Paul leading the band > Everyone doing their own thing. It was pretty evident with Abbey Road that him calling the shots was how they made the best music.
>>66062030
He didn't make Ringo quit, the fighting between all of them is what made them quit.
Lennon is the only one of them who was an outright dick to the others. Ringo walked out of the How Do You Sleep sessions too y'know.
>>66062030
>and was a better drummer
>>66062005
Oh boy, Frank Sinatra's a hipster now!
>>66062005
I agree that Harrison is the contrarian answer, but he was great too. But he proved that limiting him to 1-2 song per album was the right decision with All Things Must Pass
People who like Paul better than John are the same sort of people who like Roger Waters better than Syd Barrett.
Everything Lennon wrote seemed to have a degree of sincerity to it, intentional or not. "Happiness is a Warm Gun" to me just screams "heroin addict living in yer own filth feat. Yoko" despite the oblique lyrics. Even something like "Good Morning Good Morning", usually dimissed as a filler track, has another dimension to it - John's home demo has a haunting, slightly " No Surprises" quality to it.
Paul's songs are generally better crafted as compositions, and I'd say pound-for-pound, he still has the greater number of classic tracks than John, if we're talking from the start of their careers to 1980.
Together, they were ideal - look at "We Can Work it Out" - Paul provides the upbeat foundation, while John injects the slightly dissonant and philosophical middle eight.
Favourite Lennon song: Strawberry Fields (ode to being a misfit, and missing being a kid).
Favourite McCartney song: "Hey Jude" (meme by this point, but it is undeniably a beautiful song).
>>66062122
I think All Things Must Pass was great until the jam part of the record. Making a triple album because "John and Paul didnt let me write half the songs on Sgt Pepper and Abbey Road!" isn't valid enough. Save the jams for a live album or work them into actual songs. It should have been a double album, max.
>>66062219
Patricians?
Stuart Sutcliffe was the best Beatle
>>66062219
The people who like Syd more than Roger Waters are projectionists who dont have a clear perception of reality. Much like Syd. It comes down to "do you like music or do you like a character who you identify with."
I like music.
Fav Lennon song: In My Life (dat George Martin piano solo)
Fav McCartney song: Got to Get You into My Life
Fav Harrison song: If I Needed Someone
Fuck Ringo.
Everyone always talks about the Lennon vs McCartney feud but few people know there was also a falling out between Lennon and Harrison that lasted for half a decade before the former's death.
>>66062219
People who answer Syd over Roger/David are immature hipsters who base their opinions around how cool they make them look
John over Paul is just as valid as Paul over John though
THE
>>66062300
Yeah that was what I meant, it has some great songs, but it's also bloated as fuck. It proves that Lennon and McCartney made the right choice by limiting him to a couple of tracks per album
>>66062442
It really doesn't become bloated until the third disc though, which I doubt he would've given anything similar to a Beatles album.
>>66062404
Lennon was a gigantic asshole. Definitely my least favorite beatle. Also can't stand his voice.
>>66062494
Yeah, it's would've been fucking great as a double LP
>which I doubt he would've given anything similar to a Beatles album
I think he would've if he had the chance, I mean he made Within You Without You
>>66062495
Eh, tbqh from what I've read this one was legitimately both ways, but more on Harrison's fault imo. Harrison was playing a tour but wasn't selling nearly as many tickets as he thought he would. Lennon offered to guest a few shows to help things along and Harrison became offended. That was the gist of the falling out.
Lennon was also hurt that he was barely mentioned in I, Me, Mine, Harrison's memoir. Which is funny because if you read the book it barely mentions anyone and [spoiler]Lennon's in the book more than anyone, including Harrison's family members.[/spoiler] But still, the falling out's more on Harrison's ego imo.
>>66062620
Within You Without You's pretty different from the jam tracks though.
>>66062700
>Within You Without You's pretty different from the jam tracks though.
yeah, but the dude loved experimentation, and I guess that's as far as Lennon and McCartney let him go. I mean, the 3rd disc of All Things Must Pass are more noodling than experimentation, but still
>>66062700
I could see how Harrison would be offended by that though. It's being like "Oh so you're not good enough by yourself? Here, let me help you, just put my name in the show and you'll sell out" Slightly douchey, even though it probably had good intentions.
>>66062840
It was true though. It's not like the same thing hadn't happened at earlier Harrison shows. Part of the reason Concert for Bangladesh was a big deal was that it was one of Dylan's first shows since his motorcycle crash.
>>66060732
Fucking everyone on /mu/ chooses McCartney, simply because the public overrates Lennon.
>all these people talking about beatles completely ignoring the scaruffi meme
this board is finally progressing
>>66063026
Nope. I even like Paul solo and with Wings more than the Beatles.
