John Lennon Had Nothing to Do With One of The Beatles’ Most Beloved Songs — and His Brutal Reaction to Paul McCartney’s Classic Still Surprises Fans
John Lennon was rarely shy about saying exactly what he thought of The Beatles’ music — even when his verdict concerned songs millions of fans considered untouchable.
He could be particularly unforgiving about his own compositions.
Lennon later expressed embarrassment over the viciously misogynistic lyrics of “Run for Your Life,” dismissed “It’s Only Love” for what he considered weak lyrics and famously described “Good Morning Good Morning” as a “piece of garbage.”
But his criticism wasn’t reserved for his own work.
Some of Paul McCartney’s songs also irritated Lennon, and one of his most striking reactions concerned a track that eventually became one of the defining songs of The Beatles’ final chapter.
“Let It Be” topped the Billboard Hot 100, sold millions of copies and became one of the group’s most enduring recordings.
Lennon’s reaction was considerably less sentimental.
“That’s Paul. What can you say?” he told Playboy in 1980. “Nothing to do with the Beatles.”
He went even further.
“It could’ve been Wings.”
Lennon and McCartney weren’t writing together like they once had
The Lennon-McCartney name remained one of the most famous songwriting partnerships in music, but by the final years of The Beatles, its meaning had changed dramatically.
During the band’s early rise, Lennon and McCartney had frequently worked together, helping develop each other’s ideas and producing songs through genuine collaboration.
As the 1960s progressed, both increasingly arrived with compositions that were largely their own.
The Lennon-McCartney credit survived, but the partnership behind it was no longer operating in quite the same way.
“Let It Be” was firmly McCartney’s creation.
Lennon made that unmistakably clear when discussing the song years after the band split.
“I don’t know what he’s thinking when he writes ‘Let It Be’,” Lennon said.
It was an unexpectedly indifferent reaction to a song that would become permanently associated with The Beatles.
Lennon could be especially harsh about McCartney’s lighter material
Their contrasting songwriting personalities became increasingly obvious as The Beatles evolved.
Lennon frequently embraced surrealism, experimentation and increasingly personal forms of expression.
Songs such as “I Am the Walrus” demonstrated how far he was willing to push conventional pop songwriting, while “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” transformed Victorian circus imagery into psychedelic spectacle.
McCartney could be equally adventurous, but he also had an affection for music hall, character pieces and lighter pop that Lennon didn’t always share.
Songs such as “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” and “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” became famous examples of material that could divide opinions even within The Beatles themselves.
Yet “Let It Be” was something different.
It wasn’t a novelty number or a piece of musical theater.
It was a solemn, piano-led ballad that would eventually become one of McCartney’s signature compositions.
And Lennon still seemed detached from it.
‘Let It Be’ became much bigger than their disagreement
Released as a single in 1970, “Let It Be” arrived as The Beatles were approaching the end.
It became their final single released before the group’s breakup was publicly confirmed.
Commercially, its impact was enormous.
The song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold millions of copies, eventually taking on a cultural significance that extended far beyond its original release.
For generations of listeners, its reassuring refrain became almost inseparable from the story of The Beatles’ farewell.
Its timing helped give the song another layer of meaning.
A lyric about accepting circumstances that cannot necessarily be changed arrived while the world’s most famous band was falling apart.
But the song’s origins were much more personal to McCartney.
McCartney found inspiration in a dream about his mother
The “Mother Mary” at the center of “Let It Be” has invited different interpretations over the decades.
For McCartney, however, the inspiration was connected to his own mother, Mary, who died when he was just 14.
He has described dreaming of her during a difficult period in The Beatles’ history.
Her reassuring presence gave him the idea that eventually became “Let It Be.”
That deeply personal starting point was transformed into something deliberately universal.
Listeners didn’t need to know McCartney’s family history to connect with the song’s message of comfort and acceptance.
Its spiritual imagery could be interpreted through Christianity, personal grief or simply the desire to find reassurance during difficult moments.
That universality became one of the reasons the song endured.
Lennon, however, was moving toward a very different kind of writing.
Lennon was heading toward brutally personal confession
As The Beatles approached their breakup, Lennon was increasingly moving toward the raw emotional territory that would define his early solo career.
His experiences with Arthur Janov’s primal therapy would feed into John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, where childhood trauma, abandonment, fame and personal relationships were confronted with remarkable directness.
The difference between that approach and McCartney’s “Let It Be” could hardly have been clearer.
McCartney turned a deeply personal memory into a broad message capable of belonging to almost anyone.
Lennon’s solo work increasingly stripped away metaphor and emotional distance.
Those differences helped make both men distinctive songwriters.
They also help explain why a composition that sounded transcendent to millions of listeners might not have connected with Lennon in the same way.
Lennon’s verdict couldn’t stop the song becoming immortal
Whatever Lennon thought about “Let It Be,” history gave the song a very different verdict.
Alongside McCartney compositions such as “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude,” it became one of the Beatles songs most deeply embedded in popular culture.
Its piano introduction is instantly recognizable. Its message continues to resonate with listeners facing grief, uncertainty and change.
And its connection to The Beatles’ final days has only strengthened its emotional power.
Lennon’s dismissive comments nevertheless provide a fascinating glimpse into how differently the two men could hear the same music.
To millions of people, “Let It Be” became a timeless Beatles anthem.
To Lennon, it was Paul’s song — so completely Paul’s that he believed it could just as easily have belonged to Wings.