3 of Paul McCartney’s Favorite John Lennon Songs

Paul McCartney and John Lennon were songwriting partners as much as they were friends. Here are some of McCartney’s favorite songs of Lennon’s, from “Julia” to “Imagine”.

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“Julia”

In “Julia”, John Lennon writes, “Half of what I say is meaningless / But I say it just to reach you, Julia.” 

McCartney revealed in an interview with the Adam Buxton Podcast that the White Album song stands out to him as a favorite, especially because he knows what Lennon was singing about.

“I love ‘Julia’ which is about the mom he couldn’t live with,” McCartney explained. “I love the poignancy of that because I’d been with him round to Julia’s house to visit her, and I knew how deeply he loved her. So, “Julia” I would go with [as a favorite Lennon song].”

“Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”

In an interview with Desert Island Discs, Paul selected “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” as a favorite song of his.

“I haven’t chosen any Beatles records, but if we had more than eight, I probably would have. I haven’t chosen any of my records so, to sum up the whole thing,” McCartney shared, “I have chosen one of John Lennon’s from ‘Double Fantasy’, which I think is a beautiful song very moving to me. So, I’d like to sum up the whole thing by playing ‘Beautiful Boy’.”

At the time, it had only been about two years since Lennon’s passing. You can see McCartney getting emotional in the clip.

“Imagine”

If you know any of the songs from John Lennon’s solo work, you likely know “Imagine”, the world peace anthem that continues to resonate with people of all different backgrounds. In an interview, when asked about the song, McCartney admitted the song was one of Lennon’s best. 

“It was after we split up, so I wasn’t with him when he wrote it,” McCartney said of “Imagine”. “It’s just one of those songs when you hear it for the first time, you know it’s a killer. And I still love looking at footage of him singing it.”

“It’s an anthem, the kind I think everyone can relate to, and it just sums a lot of things up,” he continued. “It’s gotta be one of John’s best songs.”

Photo by: CBS via Getty Images