Paul McCartney’s musical attack on John Lennon after Beatles split

This weekend Paul McCartney wowed fans around the world with a glorious headline slot at Glastonbury Festival 2023. Included in the set was a moment where the former member of The Beatles had a virtual duet with his pal John Lennon, who was murdered on December 8, 1980.

While the footage of the star came from their rooftop concert at Apple Corps HQ, shortly after they were viciously angry at one another.

McCartney and Lennon became bitter rivals after The Beatles came to an end in 1970. And there were a number of factors at play which caused this.

For one, McCartney did not like where the band’s song rights were headed. So he later confessed he “had no choice” but to sue The Beatles to keep his music his own.

There were also claims that McCartney was not the biggest fan of Lennon’s new wife, Yoko Ono. He later denied these reports.

Either way, he didn’t wait around to start writing some scathing comments about Lennon and his life. In 1971, McCartney released his second solo album, Ram, with his wife Linda McCartney.

McCartney penned the track “Too Many People” which included a subtle hit at Lennon and his wife. While it doesn’t specifically name or shame any person or event, the venom is in there.

Frustration can be gleaned from the song’s early line: “People reaching for a piece of cake.” This was easily a reference to the many people trying to get involved with The Beatles during their final years.

He then gets personal towards Lennon and Ono in the chorus. McCartney crooned: “That was your first mistake / You took your lucky break and broke it in two,” in reference to Ono. Another line references Lennon’s “preaching practices”.

McCartney later confessed these were attacks on his former pal, Lennon.

READ MORE: Paul McCartney ‘took’ George Harrison’s solo on Beatles’ Revolver hit

“There wasn’t anything else on it that was about them,” McCartney added. He then revealed: “Oh, there was ‘You took your lucky break and broke it in two.'”

Lennon was not going to take these insults sitting down, however. He had also written some scathing hit-backs at McCartney.

He wrote the track “How Do You Sleep?” for his 1971 album Imagine. In the song, he took some pointed jabs at McCartney that were not as oblique as his cohort’s.

In the track, he said: “So Sgt Pepper took you by surprise / You better see right through that mother’s eyes / Those freaks was right when they said you was dead.”

Lennon also claimed in the song that McCartney’s only contribution to The Beatles was his hit song, Yesterday.

He penned: “You live with straights who tell you you was king / Jump when your momma tell you anything / The only thing you done was Yesterday / And since you’re gone you’re just another day.”

Despite their bickering, McCartney and Lennon eventually made up and reunited once again as friends, just before the latter was murdered in New York City in 1980.

SOURCE