7 of John Lennon’s Best Songs That He (Mostly) Wrote for The Beatles

Throughout The Beatles’ tenure as a band, any songs composed by either John Lennon or Paul McCartney were credited to Lennon-McCartney—an agreement the musicians made back when world-dominating fame wasn’t even a possibility for the young hooligans from Liverpool.

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(The relatively few songs that Ringo Starr and George Harrison or, more rarely, all four members wrote had more accurate crediting.)

In the years that followed the Fab Four’s breakup, accounts of who wrote which part of certain songs differed between Lennon and McCartney. Sometimes, these differences seemed more related to mood than memory, especially when things were particularly contentious between the two. Nevertheless, there were plenty of songs that one or the other wrote, even though they had a Lennon-McCartney credit.

Here are some of the best tracks largely written by the former half of this iconic duo.

“I Am The Walrus”

When John Lennon heard that his alma mater was using his lyrics for classroom analysis lessons, he decided to play a practical joke from his seat atop rock ‘n’ roll royalty. He wrote “I Am The Walrus” specifically to confuddle the students, and in doing so, created one of the most memorable psychedelic offerings from the band.

“Come Together”

Chuck Berry plagiarism allegations aside, “Come Together” is a standout on Abbey Road. Featuring John Lennon’s typically nonsensical lyricism, the background groove bounces the song along in an infectious, earwormy way. (Thanks in large part to Paul McCartney’s sliding bass feature and Ringo Starr’s nuanced drum fills.) It was a massive hit in the United States, peaking at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Across The Universe”

Considering how beautiful and zen-like “Across The Universe” is, it’s ironic to think that John Lennon wrote this classic Beatles song while quarreling with his first wife, Cynthia Lennon. “Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup” sounds romantic at first blush. But in reality, he was commenting on how much Cynthia was talking. Not ideal in hindsight, but a beautiful song nonetheless.

“Don’t Let Me Down”

The Beatles offered John Lennon a platform to test his vulnerability before he was a solo artist, and “Don’t Let Me Down” is one of the best songs to come out of this emotional headspace. Years later, Paul McCartney mused to Barry Miles in Many Years From Now that he believed the song to be a “genuine plea” from Lennon to his second wife, Yoko Ono, as he ventured out into a world sans Beatles.

“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”

“I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” doesn’t exactly sound like a love song. But John Lennon wrote it with Yoko Ono in mind. The Abbey Road track is a heavy, sludgey rocker tucked at the end of the album’s A-side. While The Beatles certainly weren’t the only bands pushing rock ‘n’ roll’s boundaries, this song helped push the genre into the heavier style that dominated the following decade.

“Norwegian Wood”

When a song is able to exist in multiple genres without sounding out of place, then that usually means it’s a pretty good song. John Lennon wrote much of “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” for The Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul. The next year, country musician Waylon Jennings released a version of the Fab Four tune on the soundtrack album to Nashville Rebel. This writer highly recommends that version, too.

“Mean Mr. Mustard”

Finally, closing out the list of the best Beatles songs that John Lennon primarily wrote is “Mean Mr. Mustard” from Abbey Road. This writer admits that it’s not one of the more obvious Lennon tunes to choose from, but something about the lazy-daisy melody and plodding rhythm has always stood out. At just one minute and six seconds, “Mean Mr. Mustard” goes to show that a song doesn’t need to be long to be great.

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