The Reason John Lennon Hated This Beatles Song Before He Even Recorded It

Though Paul McCartney and John Lennon were writing partners, their styles diverged greatly towards the end of The Beatles’ career. What McCartney thought was innovative, Lennon thought was too sappy for its own good. Their divergent opinions didn’t keep them from making albums, but there were multiple stories of passive-aggressive recording sessions and, certainly, some insults thrown around once they finally did break up.

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There was one song in particular of McCartney’s that Lennon completely discredited, before it was even done. He reportedly treated the recording session very sarcastically, which ironically helped make the final product as great as it is.

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The Differences Between John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Songwriting Styles

To give his naysayers some credit, McCartney has delivered some silly songs over the decades. He’s never been afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve and sing earnestly about love and life. While McCartney’s fans enjoy this about him, it hasn’t been everyone’s cup of tea, including Lennon.

Lennon routinely poked fun at McCartney’s more adventurous songwriting. It stood in stark contrast to the culturally aware, even political tracks Lennon would make in his solo career. Their divergent creative styles would occasionally brush up against each other, heightening tensions outside of music.

The Paul McCartney Song John Lennon Didn’t Want To Record

There was one McCartney song in particular that Lennon almost couldn’t stomach recording. According to engineer Geoff Emerick, Lennon came into the session for “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” completely stoned and sarcastically hammered down on the piano. “Ob-la-di, ob-la-da / Life goes on, brah,” the lyrics read, clearly frustrating Lennon with their lack of grit.

“He went straight to the piano and smashed the keys with an almighty amount of volume, twice the speed of how they’d done it before, and said, ‘This is it! Come on!’ He was really aggravated,” Emerick once said. “That was the version they ended up using.”

Ironically, it’s this intensity that makes the song what it is. Though the lyrics are a little sappy, there is a real energy behind this McCartney track that, given what we know about Lennon’s playing, has to be attributed to him.

We can’t really blame Lennon, especially considering they recorded over ten takes of this track, which was symptomatic of McCartney’s perfectionism. Clearly, the band was beginning to outgrow each other, which resulted in this aggrieved performance.

(Photo by Don Paulsen/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)