37 Comment(s)

1. My 2 cents: A good argument could be made that “Ticket To Ride,” “Love Me Do,” & “We Can Work It Out” should all be listed as “cowritten” and if they were the totals would be 12 for Paul, 6 for John, and 8 for co-written.

   —

   Also I think it goes without saying that many of The Beatles greatest songs weren’t #1 hits (”I Am The Walrus,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Dear Prudence,” “Here Comes The Sun,” & “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” are among those that jump out to me…)

   Marvin Marks | Jul 31, 2009 | Reply

2. Why is this a “battle?” It’s always been my understanding that The Beatles were a group of 4, and not just 4 individuals. Lyrics were one part of their songs, the music another, and when it came down to production the 5th Beatle would do his part…

   If you really want to compare them, compare their post-Beatles careers, or you could just… (wait for it, wait for it…) let it be.

   Alishah Novin | Jul 31, 2009 | Reply

3. Lennon also wrote Girl, Rain and Across The Universe, and, as has already been mentioned, Walrus and Strawberry Fields.

   But of course McCartney also wrote All My Loving, Michelle and Rita.

   Another way to look at is who wrote the least duff or cheesey songs, and my guess is Lennon would win that one hands down.

   Len Inmac-Cartney | Jul 31, 2009 | Reply

4. Alishah - I agree with you in principle. The Beatles as a group were as great as they were because of the collective (all four of them) .. they were greater than the sum of the parts.

   But… This is just a bit of fun.

   Len Inmac-Cartney - They both wrote a lot more great songs than just these #1 hits… Most of my favorite Beatles songs weren’t #1 hits in fact… My favorite album is The White Album and it didn’t have a #1 hit on it. This is just a look at who wrote more of their hits, nothing more.

   The point is really to show how underrated Paul is… Way too many people dismiss him just because he doesn’t have the same “mystique” that Lennon has. I think that’s unfortunate. Whether you want to quibble or say shit like “who wrote the least duff songs” (Ringo?) … The point remains - Paul was a HUGE part of what made The Beatles great and he deserves credit for that.

   BrainFace | Jul 31, 2009 | Reply

5. There’s another dimension to this — of the Beatles first 10 number 1 hits, with the exception of #5 Lennon wrote or co-wrote ALL of them. And then he basically just stopped. Stopped trying, stopped being able to, stopped caring, who the hell knows.

   In any case, it’s all pretty much McCartney from there on out.

   (I’m not saying Lennon didn’t write astonishing music throughout, just that it seems clear things shifted for him in terms of his wanting-to/needing-to/caring-to/remembering-how-to write “#1 hit songs”)

   Jack | Jul 31, 2009 | Reply

6. Jack, that is an interesting point - Lennon was definitely more productive than McCartney early on… For the first few albums and singles he was writing more material - including more of the hits.

   I do think it’s a bit of a complex issue… part of it is that Lennon stopped caring as much about writing “hit songs” - I think that’s true. I don’t think it’s an issue of him decreasing talent wise… Most of my favorite Lennon songs were written after that early period. In fact I’d say that a list of my own 27 favorite Beatles songs wouldn’t share that many songs in common with this list of 27 #1 hit Beatles songs… Maybe 5. Most of their best work isn’t on this list of #1 singles, I think.

   BrainFace | Aug 1, 2009 | Reply

7. BrainFace, excellent list here. Anyone who actually knows the Beatles’ music knows Macca wasn’t underrated though. Lennon was the smart one, avant-garde one, socially conscious one. In My Life and Imagine (a post Beatles song of course)have some amazing lyrics. But the music was Paul, period. Did he get a little schmaltzy? Maybe. But Let It Be, Yesterday, Hey Jude, The Long and Winding Road, all Macca. Nine number one hits with Wings, not sure if Lennon had any post Beatles (at least in the US). Lennon left the world way too early and loved his music and thought he was great, but he also gets way too much credit for the Beatles. Particularly amongst the folks that liked his coolness and as you say, “mystique”. But in the end we come back to the music. And the music was Paul.

   Still Amazed | Aug 23, 2009 | Reply

8. Lennon wrote the lonely people part in Eleanor Rigby. Why is that left out?

   KB | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply

9. KB, according to everything I’ve read - that’s not the case.

   Marvin Marks | Sep 18, 2009 | Reply

10. They were both great and honestly the two best in the group. George was very good, but paul and john may be the two greatest in one band of all time. I know John said Paul is the only musician that he thought was on his level and the only one he would ask for help with on a song. THey both had a ton of hits and no doubt their both in the top 5 of all time.

    jim ross | Oct 8, 2009 | Reply

11. Lennon may have had fewer number 1 hits than McCartney but John after 1965 was writing music that was not for the masses, he was creating the blueprint for modern music. John’s songs were at the end and still are revolutionary in conception, arrangement and execution. Paul’s songs were more main stream. Not to discredit Paul, but John wrote what then and now are considered the most important songs, culturally and musically speaking, of the band. No doubt about that.

    Sean | Oct 12, 2009 | Reply

12. “Yesterday” was not a single in the UK in the ’60s (but much later). The same for “Eight Days a Week” and “The Long and Winding Road”.

    “Day Tripper” was made solely or mainly by John Lennon, depending on who you believe in; but it was not “co-written”. If so, “Can’t Buy Me Love”, “Paperback Writer”, “Yellow Submarine” and “Penny Lane” might be considered co-written efforts due to John’s little help; turning irrelevant the point of the intended comparison.

    Finally, the authorship of “Eleanor Rigby” (as well as that of “In My Life”) was always a cause of debate between Lennon and McCartney. On one hand John claimed he wrote 70 per cent of the lyrics and helped round some music (with George Harrison contributing also); and on the other Paul declared he was the song’s only author. So it’s not clear if it’s a McCartney or a Lennon-McCartney composition.

    Leonardo | Nov 13, 2009 | Reply

13. Leonardo - “Yesterday” was a #1 single in the US. This list is for songs that went to #1 in either the UK or the US (and of course, in many cases - both countries.)

    As far as “Day Tripper” goes, I’ll probably grant you that one. It should be listed as Lennon.

    But I think “Eleanor Rigby” is definitely a McCartney song. Lennon was actually against Father McKenzie and Eleanor Rigby “meeting” in the third verse… (he was overruled on that obviously.) There were various people who threw in some lyrical ideas on that song, but the music was Paul’s and the main lyrical theme was his. I don’t think it’s fair to say it’s anything but his song.

    Marvin Marks | Nov 15, 2009 | Reply

14. I would revise this list as follows:
    02. “From Me to You”
    Not co-written, mainly John
    08. “Eight Days a Week”
    Not co-written, mainly John
    09. “Ticket to Ride” - Mostly Lennon (McCartney claims co-written.)
    Not co-written, mainly John
    12. “Day Tripper”
    Not co-written, mainly John
    13. “We Can Work It Out” 
Co-written

    And why was Strawberry Fields not included? It was a double A-side.

    Buster | Dec 9, 2009 | Reply

15. Buster —

    “Strawberry Fields Forever” did not reach #1, “Penny Lane” did — that’s why SFF is not on the Beatles 1 compilation.

    As far as your revisions - sounds like you’ve got a heavy case of Lennon bias.

    Marvin Marks | Dec 9, 2009 | Reply

16. Marvin Marks — John tossed in the “lonely people” line after he heard a band member say it offhand. Paul’s song all the way but Lennon scored an assist, as with virtually every Lennon-McCartney composition before mid-White Album. It’s also clear that Paul’s solo songwriting fell apart after Venus & Mars and never recovered. He refused to release the record he did with Elvis Costello after getting his back up over media reports that he sorely needed a co-songwriter, which of course was the truth. A lot of great songs were discarded as a result.

    Plus we really can’t be certain about the Lennon-McCartney songwriting allotment and balance because Paul’s a douchebag and he lies all the time about the Beatles. He even stole from his bandmates when he signed the Capitol deal.

    Clubfoot | Dec 12, 2009 | Reply

17. Clubfoot, what’s clear to you may not be to other people. You’re confusing your opinion with fact.

    And I really think it’s the other way around - it was McCartney who was giving assists on Lennon’s songs more so than Lennon on McCartney’s.

    McCartney’s bass lines are a huge part of what makes Lennon songs like “Rain” and “Come Together” so great.

    Marvin Marks | Dec 12, 2009 | Reply

18. You have to consider that in the Beatles days no album tracks were relesed as singles. I think it would be wise not to compare the two on the popularity of their singles, since the majority of their masterpieces were tucked neatly away inside those amazing vinals.

    John Smith | Dec 23, 2009 | Reply

19. Well, forget about #1, what do they know? Paul was a hard worker, but some of his stuff is pure rubbish. George onl got a few songs, but some great ones.

    John Lennon (great songs only)

    A Day In the Life (Paul put a silly bridge on a serious song)
    Dear Prudence
    In My Life
    Come Together
    Across the universe
    Cry baby cry
    Don’t Let Me Down
    Everybody’s Got Seomthing to Hide Except for Me and My Monkey
    Free As a Bird
    Girl
    Happiness is a Warm Gun
    He Said She Said
    Tomorrow Never Knows
    Help
    I Want You
    I’m So tired
    I’m only sleeping
    Sexy Sadie
    Strawberry Fields
    Sun King
    Norweigan Wood
    You Know My Name (only 1st min)

    Paul doesn’t have half that many great songs in my opinion, and they still don’t compare. I like Wings, I like Paul, one of my all-time fav albums growing up was Wings at the Speed of Sound, but Lennon’s 5 yrs of work as a soloist, and his Beatles, is better than all of Paul’s even the 30 yrs after John Lennon was killed.

    matt | Jan 15, 2010 | Reply

20. Clubfoot claims that McCartney “refused to release the record he did with Elvis Costello after getting his back up over media reports that he sorely needed a co-songwriter, which of course was the truth. A lot of great songs were discarded as a result.” But they DID release that album — FLOWERS IN THE DIRT — and several song collaborations were included on a subsequent album as well.

    Vox | Jan 25, 2010 | Reply

21. “But of course McCartney also wrote All My Loving, Michelle and Rita.

    Another way to look at is who wrote the least duff or cheesey songs, and my guess is Lennon would win that one hands down.”

    Yeah, Helter Skelter is really cheesy and duff(it sounds more like one of the first headbangers actually), that’s Paul McCartney, his idea, his drive, heck even the totally different, slow version of it on Anthology is still cool and that’s not a headbanger, but it’s still heavy. So it’s a Two-fer - two cool songs for the price of one.

    There are actually many “non duff”, “non cheesy” songs that Paul McCartney either wrote or co-wrote.

    As for Ticket to Ride, I think musically Paul had something to do with it because he seems to have been a major influence on the drum, which even John admitted to(and the drums are a very distinctive part of the song) and lead guitar parts, he also plays lead guitar on the song. But I’d still give to it John.

    As for a Day In the Life - Paul didn’t “put a silly bridge in”, John asked Paul for help and John obviously liked Paul’s idea, it wouldn’t have been there if he hadn’t. In fact that bridge is a major component of what makes the song stand out - funny everyone talks about John the realist but Paul’s section WAS the realistic part. It was dealing with the reality - the reality of living in the real world, which involves, for most of us, getting out of bed to the sound of an alarm clock, rushing to work often on mass transport to a job or school we probably aren’t too keen on and daydreaming. There isn’t anything silly about it. They purposely dampend Paul’s vocals to get that uber-real effect, the constrast between the “dreamy” of the echo of John’s vocal and the “reality” of Paul’s.

    Also there is apparently actual footage of Paul helping John create “Don’t Let Me Down” during the Let It Be sessions, that is a “John song” that wouldn’t even have been if Paul hadn’t basically made it into a workable song.

    Tomorrown Never Knows? Most of the tape loops are Paul’s, Paul had even taught John about the technique and how it could be used prior. Paul had a major effect on that song. Strawberry Fields? That was one of the songs that John accused Paul of sabotaging by “experimenting” on it - which, ironically considering John was complaining at the time, obviously means a lot of what that song turned out to be? Came from Paul. “Come Together” would have sounded like a very different song if not for Paul’s influence on it.

    None of which makes them less John’s songs BUT the point is, a lot of the stuff in them that makes them “so cool” came from Paul.

    As for Eleanor Rigby - there is an interview, which can be found on Youtube(might be a NY press conference, I can’t check now) from 1966 where interestingly enough, the topic of solo songs comes up and George, with John and Paul sitting right next to him, helpfully volunteers that Eleanor Rigby was basically a Paul solo song. And John not only doesn’t say anything against that he, snarkily, agrees(he makes a comment about drinking tea, as opposed to having anything to do with the song). And this was at a time when even though they were giving up touring(not that the reporters knew that) they were still close friends, were still essentially band oriented and presenting themselves as a band so for George to specifically point that out about Eleanor Rigby, with absolutely no prompting beyond a question about solo work says to me that whatever other contributions anyone might have had, lyrically or otherwise, they were very minor.

    Point being, I really don’t think if John had had much of anything to do with Eleanor Rigby lyrics it would have been considered solely a Paul song, even if he was the one singing it. Yet they all clearly considered it very much a Paul song.

    As for their solo work, I don’t think John’s songs are at all better. There are some individual John songs that better than some individual Paul songs and vice versa but I don’t see anything that was particularly about John’s stuff either. Paul has a lot of really good songs from the period of 70-80 while they were both alive and even stuff that was ahead of it’s time(there is stuff on McCartney II that predicts things that happened in ambient music and dance music 10 years later and “Coming Up” partly inspired John to get back in the studio) and Wings could really rock. Paul’s music regularly encompasses a far wider variety of genres.

    Nona | Feb 1, 2010 | Reply

22. nona: I agree, thank you.

    Just wonder…was it really Paul’s song that inspired John to get back in the studio or was it Paul’s being down.

    yesamized | Feb 15, 2010 | Reply

23. It is generally ingnored by the Lennon-philes that McCartney was major player in almost all of Lennon’s songs. For example, the song that is considered the “definitive” Lennon song: “A Day in the Life”. Without the input of McCartney the song is nothing more than a nice acoustical tune. McCartney provided both bridges. He brought in and arranged the orchestration the bridges. The final note: his. The middle section: his. “i’d love to turn you on” HIS (according to Lennon in an interview). While McCartney would present virtually “finished” songs for recording, Lennon would offer unfinished songs and ideas that would be worked through by McCartney, Martin and the rest of the group. By the way, McCartney co-wrote Help.

    talis4 | Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

24. Interesting note:

    For “ticket to ride”, there is the comment in parenthesis “McCartney Claims Co-written”. Why isn’t this applied to the Lennon songs? Most of the crap in this list is taken directly from the Lennon interview with Rolling Stone where he essentially claims to be the living embodiment of jesus h. christ almighty.

    talis4 | Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

25. Help! was a John Lennon song, Theres a demo about which dates back from John playing it at Kenwood. For Me Lennon produced the best lyrics of the two, McCartney produced the best melodies. I mean look at Hello Goodbye for example…

    I don’t like to single out the best Beatle, There was 4 of them and they all contributed to what made the Beatles the greatest. I’m a much bigger fan of Lennon’s work as He is My favourite all time musician, He didnt write the cheesy hits that McCartney as forever released post Beatles, Even in the Beatles some of his work was cheesy remember Obla Di Obla Da, And Your Mother Should Know erghhh. In the early days Lennon absolutely dominated, Look at A Hard Day’s Night its practically a Lennon solo album, But from Revolver onwards He just seem to give up but at times still produced that brilliance he had in abudance, Lennon/McCartney were a team though were Lennon lacked McCartney had to fill the gap and vica versa, The only shame in this tale is Lennon was taken from us way way way too early, His first two solo albums for Me beat any post Beatle solo album of McCartney/Harrison/Starkey. Plastic Ono/Imagine are absolutely brilliant albums, All Things Must Pass is also a piece of genius from Harrison but McCartney well, Wing’s have never been My cup of tea, But I liked Ram and Chao’s and Creation in the Backyard are probably My two favourites of his but taking nothing away from the man He is as much a genius as Lennon, Lennon just had that something about him which sets him from the rest…

    Matt Elwood | Apr 1, 2010 | Reply

26. And we have Lennon to thank for this list of selected songs…

    Please Please Me
    From Me To You
    I Feel Fine
    Ticket To Ride
    If I Fell
    Im A Loser
    Help!
    You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
    Your Gonna Lose That Girl
    Norwegian Wood (This Bird As Flown)
    In My Life
    Im Only Sleeping
    Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
    I Am The Walrus
    Strawberry Fields Forever
    All You Need Is Love
    Hey Bulldog
    Revolution
    Sexy Sadie
    Come Together
    Across The Universe

    Matt Elwood | Apr 1, 2010 | Reply

27. and McCartney

    Love Me Do
    Can’t Buy Me Love
    Yesterday
    I’ll Follow The Sun
    Im Looking Through You
    Michelle
    Eleanor Rigby (Apparently)
    Got To Get You Into My Lif
    Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
    Lovely Rita
    Penny Lane
    Hello Goodbye
    Helter Skelter
    I Will
    Oh! Darling
    Let It Be
    Hey Jude

    Matt Elwood | Apr 1, 2010 | Reply

28. I’ve tried to scour purely solo written efforts by the two.. I mean out of the songs I chose some will be co-written at some point but when they worked as team well We don’t even need to go there!
    They were magic…

    Matt Elwood | Apr 1, 2010 | Reply

29. lennon rules

    paul h | Apr 2, 2010 | Reply

30. While Paul McCartney wrote some wonderful songs like Hey Jude and Live and Let die etc, he just isn’t in the same league overall.

    Take ‘tomorrow never knows’ - this is literally 20 years ahead of its time. It has to be considered the first breakbeat ‘hardcore’ track ever created and this kind of music didn’t even become popular until the late 80s. Lennon lyrics are so personal that most feel like they’ve been written for each and every person. Jealous guy is probably the most honest song you could ever hear - you can actually feel the pain.

    I believe that McCartney kept the Beatles ticking over with commercial hits but that it was Lennon that made them stand out as being so special.

    Best 10 beatle tracks (in no particular order:
    1)In my life (like a whole diary in one song)
    2)Tomorrow never knows (first hardcore song)
    3)A day in the life(speaks for itself)
    4)Strawberry Fields forever(most groundbreaking
    5)Eleaner Rigby (hauntingly brilliant)
    6)All you need is love (song for a generation)
    7)Come together (is there a funkier song?)
    8)Revolution - heavy version (lyrics and power
    9)Hey Jude (best singalong song)
    10)Accross the universe (first greenpeace song)

    paul h | Apr 2, 2010 | Reply

31. why were my last comments deleted?

    Paul H | Apr 3, 2010 | Reply

32. can you explain what ‘your comment is awaiting moderation’ means? Please elaborate on what you mean by ‘moderation’ as I neither swore or was rude in the comments I made yesterday in this debate and yet they were taken off after ‘moderation’? Does ‘moderation’ mean that if you don’t agree with comments then you delete them?

    Paul H | Apr 3, 2010 | Reply

33. Paul H - Your comments were not deleted - they were just held until I could see them.

    The reason for moderation is spam. We get a lot of spam comments so I have to make sure that the commenter is making a real relevant comment before approving them.

    Now that you have been approved you will be able to make more comments without this issue.

    Also: I find it interesting that of your top five Beatles songs McCartney played a big part in four of them.

    #1) “In My Life” - while Lennon claimed to have written most of the melody, McCartney also claimed to have written the melody and it definitely sounds more like a McCartney melody, many folks who have studied the song side with McCartney on that one.

    #2) “Tomorrow Never Knows” - the tape loops that give the song so much of it’s unique sound were Paul’s idea.

    #3) “A Day In The Life” - McCartney wrote the bridge and the “I’d love to turn you on” bits. Also the orchestral build up was his idea.

    #4) “Strawberry Fields Forever” - I wouldn’t give Paul significant credit on this song, but George Martin and Geoff Emerick certainly had a lot to do with making it as great a recording as it is.

    #5) “Eleanor Rigby” - Paul.

    Marvin Marks | Apr 6, 2010 | Reply

34. Marvin Marks - “In My Life”: despite what people have “studied,” Lennon said in 1980 that he wrote the chord structure based on “If I Fell,” which as far as I know is not disputed as a Lennon song. Also, in the magazine “Hit Parader” in 1972 Lennon listed his contributions to Beatles songs; Macca reviewed the list at the time and noted only one comment, per “Hit Parader”–that he wrote the middle eight of “In My Life,” not the entire melody, as he now claims.

    “Tomorrow Never Knows” — Geoff Emerick wrote that Lennon and Ringo came up with the initial loops for the song (first version heard on Anthology) and George Martin gives credit to all the Beatles for coming up with loops for the final version. In fact, Martin gave them instructions that the loops had to be in the key of the song.

    “A Day in the Life” — Martin wrote in “All You Need Is Ears” that it was Lennon who came up with the idea of the musical crescendo.

    “Eleanor Rigby” — depending upon what day you catch Paul, you’ll get a different origin of the song. Again, in “Hit Parader” 1972 Paul did NOT dispute Lennon’s claim that John wrote a good lot of the lyrics. It was only after Lennon’s death that the stories arose about Lennon’s role in the song as being insignificant.

    Nate | Apr 9, 2010 | Reply

35. Paul obviously didn’t want to dispute with John via some magazines. He was hoping to rekindle their friendship and to discuss matters with John himself when the time was right. Unfortunetly this was not going to happen.

    yesamized | Apr 11, 2010 | Reply

36. its nice to see no matter what we feel towards these beatles ( john and paul in paticular ) we loved all there music irreguardless . All the music wouldnt have been the same if one was without the other . i have been a beatles fan for 40 years and i dont care who wrote what …………………… i just care to listen !!!! there chemistry created the best of music .

    kat777 | May 25, 2010 | Reply

37. Come Together is a complete rip-off of Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me”
    the thing that truly sets it apart is the incredible bass provided by McCartney.

    talis4 | Jun 18, 2010 | Reply

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