The Beatles Songs John Lennon Hated—and Why He Was Wrong
John Lennon was a perfectionist of sorts, both as a solo artist and as a part of The Beatles. Like anyone with a perfectionist bone in their body, he outright criticized and slandered a few of his own songs, as well as Paul McCartney’s contributions. Sometimes, that criticism was well-placed. Other times, it definitely was not. Let’s look at just a few songs that John Lennon famously hated, and why I personally think he was wrong to be so harsh about them.
1. “It’s Only Love”
This track from Help! took quite a few takes to make it to the record. Even then, it never got a proper single release and only made it to American audiences via the US version of Rubber Soul.
“That’s the one song I really hate of mine,” Lennon said of “It’s Only Love”. “Terrible lyric.”
I really don’t agree with that. I don’t think Lennon was some otherworldly god that couldn’t produce bad music or anything. But, he definitely penned worse tracks than “It’s Only Love”. (“Run For Your Life” is just one example, and Lennon also hated that one as well.)
2. “Paperback Writer”
This non-album single from 1966 is a surprising one on this list, considering it shot to no. 1 in the US and UK upon its release. However, Lennon didn’t think very fondly of this tune.
Source: americansongwriter.com/Em Casalena
