by Monty » 30 May 2015, 11:13
it's true - tho' George later got 'done' for borrowing the melody of 'My Sweet Lord' from The Chiffons old hit 'He's So Fine'
(tho' surely Phil Spector should have spotted that ? - he produced both !)
A loose guide to re 'who wrote what' of the 'Lennon & McCartney' credited songs:
not always the case but quite often you find:
John - wrote 'from the (openly bleeding) heart' - often re his OWN Love wrenching or bitter experiences sung in the 'first person' - hence; 'Do You Want To Know A Secret' (no. 1 for Billy J. Kramer) , 'I'll Be Back', 'I'm A Loser', 'I Don't Want To Spoil The Party', 'It's Only Love', 'I Feel Fine', 'Help !', 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away' (written re the step-sister he knew he had but sadly never met), 'Girl', 'Norwegian Wood', 'In My Life', 'Run For Your Life', 'And Your Bird Can Sing', 'Don't Let Me Down',etc
- hence 'I'll Be On MY Way' (with it's line...."they were right I was wrong, true love didn't last long, as the June light turns to moonlight I'll be on my way...")
Paul from 1964 onwards tended to write more in the observational 'third person' often painting pictures of other people; 'She's A Woman', 'Michelle' (no.1 for the Overlanders) , 'Eleanor Rigby', 'For No One', 'Paperback Writer', 'She's Leaving Home', 'Lovely Rita (Meter Maid)', 'Your Mother Should know', 'The Fool on the Hill', 'Martha My Dear', 'Rocky Racoon', 'Lady Madonna', 'Hey Jude', 'Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da' (no.1 for Marmalade), 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', 'Carry That Weight', etc
it's not a 100% rule tho'
- Paul could write in the 'first person' - 'Yesterday', 'I've Just Seen A Face', 'Good Day Sunshine', 'Here There and Everywhere', 'When I'm Sixty Four', 'Let it Be', 'The Long and Winding Road' 'etc
John could observe others in the 'third person' - 'Nowhere Man', 'Mr. Kite', 'Lucy in The Sky', 'Dear Prudence', 'Bungelow Bill', 'Sexy Sadie', 'Polythene Pam' etc
Paul could 'Rock' - 'I Saw Her Standing There', 'I'm Down', 'Helter Skelter', 'Birthday', 'Back in The USSR', etc
John could be gently melodic / romantic - 'This Boy', 'Yes it is', 'Julia', 'Because', 'Across The Universe' etc
they wrote a fair number of early songs as a team, and slipped bits into each other's songs - John put in the line; 'I used to be cruel to my woman I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved...' into Paul's song 'Getting Better'
John put the 'bridge' ('Life is very short...') into Paul's 'We Can Work it Out' - the lines Lennon co-sings
Paul put the centre section ('woke up, fell out of bed...') into John's unfinished 'A Day in The Life'
Paul re-wrote the lyrics to John's Enoch Powell inspired racist blast (orignially titled; 'No Parkistanis' !) keeping just the one Lennon line...'Get Back to where you once belong' - the only lines Lennon co-sings (and Paul got them a no.1 hit out of John's tune !) - hence instead we got Paul's revised lyrics; 'Jo Jo was a man who thought he was a loner...' & 'sweet Loretta Martin thought she was a woman, but she was another man...' (!) in a rare latter 'Lennon-McCartney' joint song...
Despite their rivalry (inspiring each other) John and Paul still wrote some songs together as a team - mostly for Ringo - 'I Wanna be Your Man' (a key early hit for The Rolling Stones), 'What Goes On' (written with Ringo), 'Yellow Submarine', 'With A Little Help From My Friends' (no.1 for Joe Cocker)
- while a few rare true 'Lennon & McCartney' songs included; 'Tell Me What You See' & 'Wait'
while George then added a third more offbeat songwriting style - with unusual angles on relationships in songs like: 'Don't Bother Me', 'You Like Me Too Much', 'If I Needed Someone' (a top twenty hit for The Hollies in 1965 ), 'Think For Yourself',
'I Want To Tell You' etc
plus other types of songs such as; 'Taxman', 'Blue Jay Way', 'It's All Too Much', 'Only A Northern Song', 'Piggies', 'Savoy Truffle', 'Long Long Long', 'Old Brown Shoe', 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps', 'I Me Mine', 'Here Comes The Sun' etc
also George had his 'Eastern' style numbers; 'Love You Too', 'Within You Without You' & 'The Inner Light'...and his romantic side; 'I Need You', 'Something'
George was influenced by John & Paul but added a third distinctive 'voice' and a third songwriting approach to their work