The story of John Lennon and Paul McCartney feels like a pair of musical brothers half the time.
They may not have had a lot in common in their earliest days, but hearing them be able to communicate through music is one of the most heartfelt exchanges that the world had ever witnessed from two rock stars. And even when those ties were severed after The Beatles’ breakup, McCartney always preferred to remember the best times that he ever had with Lennon.
Then again, it’s not like his writing partner couldn’t get a little bit nasty in the background. A lot of Lennon’s early life had a defining element of tragedy to it, so when he finally was out on his own, he had a lot to unpack, and that came out by letting loose on everyone that he could think of, including taking a couple of digs at his former bandmate on tunes like ‘How Do You Sleep’. It might have been hurtful, but Macca knew that wasn’t the person he grew up with.
There was always a common bond between them even when they were playing together in school. Sure, Lennon was far more rough-and-tumble than McCartney half the time, but whenever they sang together, there was that subtle magic that they always relied on. They could finish each other’s sentences half the time when they were writing, but even if those sessions produced some great songs, they were never the kind to share all of their emotions on the grand stage.
Although McCartney did eventually reconcile with Lennon in the 1970s, his friend’s tragic death ended up reopening a lot of wounds from back in the day. He knew that there was a lot of baggage that came with talking about his old friend he had slagged off in the past, but ever since making up, McCartney wanted to use a song like ‘Here Today’ to help set the record straight on their relationship.
No, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, but McCartney knew Lennon’s softer side better than most. He could get to his old mate in a way that few people could, and when going over the album Tug of War, McCartney recalled one night in Key West during the Beatle years where he and Lennon would be able to pour their hearts out to each other.
It didn’t happen often, but the fact that it happened at all was enough for Macca, saying, “That night, we got drunk and started to get kind of emotional. It all came out. But on the way to that, there was a lot of soul-searching. We told each other a few truths. ‘Well, I love you. I love you man.’ ‘Oh, I love that you said that. I love it.’ And we opened up. So, that was kind of special to me. I think that was really one of the only times that ever happened.”
And now that he has years of hindsight, McCartney has been particularly unabashed about his affection for his old mate. Even though it wasn’t the norm at the time, McCartney even said that the first thing that he would tell his old mate if he saw him today was that he loved him, and when looking at the treatment that he gave to The Beatles’ final song, he always seemed to want another excuse to play with his old mate one more time.
The relationship between ‘The Nerk Twins’ was never going to be easy once they became the biggest stars in the world, but McCartney knew that there was more behind those wire-rimmed glasses than most people knew. Underneath it all, Lennon could be a gentle soul, and maybe it took someone as heartfelt as McCartney to help pour it out of him.
