John Lennon Compared This Beatles Album to “The Mature Part of a Relationship”
If the earliest days of Beatlemania were the puppy love, head-over-heels phase of the Fab Four’s relationship with one another, then John Lennon considers this later Beatles album as “the mature part” of the band’s bond. Ironically, the album is also one of the Beatles’ most whimsical and impersonal.
Lennon’s opinion on this iconic album fluctuated in the years following its release. Depending on his mood, the day, or otherwise, the late musician would lament the record’s pitfalls or boast its many strengths and lasting influence.
This multifaceted perspective, we suppose, is not all that different from how someone might treat someone with whom they’ve been in a relationship for a long time.
In All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, David Sheff spoke to the late ex-Beatle and his wife about nearly every aspect of Lennon’s time in the Fab Four. From individual songs to overarching themes of their career, Lennon revealed his true thoughts about his band’s legacy, even likening its many phases to a romantic relationship.
As the Beatles’ career continued to evolve from their early Beatlemania days, Lennon recalled, “We were different; we were older; we knew each other on all kinds of levels that we didn’t when we were teenagers. The early stuff—the “Hard Day’s Night” period, I call it—was the sexual equivalent of the beginning hysteria of a relationship. And the “Sgt. Pepper-Abbey Road” period was the mature part of the relationship.”
With its heavy use of theatrics and experimentation, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band certainly marked a distinct change in the Beatles’ trajectory. In a different interview, Lennon said this transition was non-negotiable for the band’s success.
Source: Melanie Davis/americansongwriter.com
