The Eternal Debate: Lennon Vs. McCartney

[driftinginfluence]

This is a such a hard choice. A brief overview of my fav beatles tunes that the two wrote and who as the primary songwriter, even though all songs were Lennon/McCartney (correct me if I'm wrong):

 

Paul > Sgt. Pepper's, Helter Skelter, Hey Jude, Lovely Rita,

Getting Better, Hello Good-Bye, Magical Mystery Tour,

Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, Yesterday, Ob La Di, Paperback Writer, Let It Be, Get Back

 

 

John > A Day in the Life, Revolution, I Am The Walrus, All You Need Is Love, Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds, Help, Hide YOur Love Away, Dear Prudence, Ticket To Ride, Across the Universe, Come Together

 

I'm forgetting lots of their good tunes, there are many, this is just a start, I can't decide who's better.

[borntohula]

i nulled my vote. i can't choose. as much as i don't like paul mcartney for the kind of person he is, john lennon is no better. lennon was a jerk (leaving a wife and son on their own). also, judging them by who they are and not the music they produced is silly. their actions are the only things that set them apart from one another. lennon had his gift for writing songs, the greats usually being psychadelic ones. paul has always had the ear for great pop tunes and rhythm.

 

one was good at one thing, one was good at another. the sum was greater than it's parts.

 

lennon was able to maintain a stronger career/following, post-beatles, but that doesn't mean much to me. also, people tend to love the dead ones. the meaning of the songs change once you've gained a knowledge of their death, so in that case, lennon has an unfair advantage. ha.

[mrs jesus]

most of my favorite beatles songs are lennon songs

 

but i'm not voting ;)

[driftinginfluence]

lennon was able to maintain a stronger career/following, post-beatles, but that doesn't mean much to me. also, people tend to love the dead ones. the meaning of the songs change once you've gained a knowledge of their death, so in that case, lennon has an unfair advantage. ha.

I will agree it is a hard choice and will admit I basically started this topic out of boredom, but do you really think "the meaning of the songs change once you've gained a knowledge of their death". I don't really understand this, please clarify. Are you referring to Kurt Cobain syndrome where if he hadn't of died he would not have been as big as he is today. Somehow people respect him so much as a martyr when he took the easy way out and ended his life leaving a young daughter behind(that's if you believe he killed himself, which many don't). I may have started a new topic with this post.

[borntohula]

no i don't mean that and don't call it the "kurt cobain syndrome". he wasn't a martyr for any cause. he was troubled and ended his life. period.

 

i mean that peoples interpretations of lennon's songs changed once he was killed. so people look at the songs differently with the knowledge of that artist's death, and how that person died (if it wasn't of natural causes or considerred to be "before their time").

 

lennon was big during his lifetime, there's no doubt about that. had he lived longer, he still would've been regarded as one of the greatest songwriters (in popular culture) of the past 100 years. nothing changes there. but because people will feel that he was taken away from them "too soon" they add another level of importance to the songs that he managed to write during his time. they think about things like how sad it is that times have gotten worse and that no one can "give peace a chance" etc etc.

 

get it?

[borntohula]

somehow, 5 other people voted but did not bother to discuss. man i love forums.

[driftinginfluence]

I wasn't implying that Cobain killed himself so he could be a martyr, i was commenting on the fact that he has been made out to be one by the press just because he died when he did. After reading your last paragraph i get what you mean, I will agree with the idea that "because people will feel that he was taken away from them "too soon" they add another level of importance to the songs that he managed to write during his time. they think about things like how sad it is that times have gotten worse and that no one can "give peace a chance" etc etc."

[saturnine]

i would call it jim morrison syndrome because morrison was a hack and the doors suck, whereas kurt cobain changed an entire musical scene for the better.

 

but i digress..

[mrs jesus]

the doors don't suck, you weiner

[saturnine]

are they worthy of the attention they receive?

[mrs jesus]

i think so, yes

 

they're more worthy than hendrix is ;)

[saturnine]

i don't think the doors are anything special. and whether you like hendrix or not, he was an amazing guitar player.

[Dan #2]

The only thing i like about Paul McCartney is that he is vegetarian, and the only song i like by him is "Rinse the Raindrops."

[mrs jesus]

i don't think the doors are anything special. and whether you like hendrix or not, he was an amazing guitar player.

he's not anymore amazing than a lot of other guitar players, though. just like morrison isn't anymore amazing than a lot of other vocalists.

 

the best part of this post is how i kinda contradicted my own statement up thurr.

 

;)

Edited November 19, 2005 by mrs jesus

[sockcrotch]

the doors are good.

 

but jim morrison is a drunken baffoon

[borntohula]

i'm glad saturnine supports me in my "the doors suck" theory. i thought i was the only one. all my friends like them so i hardly bring it up anymore. i just stay confused. the band got a lot of attention way back when for having that pretty boy of a lead singer, not for being good.

 

i read somewhere that people started REALLY carring after apocalypse now.

 

don't get me wrong, they had some good songs, but i don't think they're worth all the hype.

[Shortcut To Moncton]

What if someone doesn't care about either of them?

[CaptainRocket]

FYI, Strawberry Fields is a John tune, Paul just helped with the production.

 

I don't know. It all comes down to taste, and Paul wrote my favourite Beatles tunes so he gets my vote. That said, in the Beatles, I don't either was stronger than the other. Post-Beatles, John wrote a better album (Imagine) than any of Paul's, but still, I can barely make a full mix cd of songs I like from either of their solo careers.

[mrs jesus]

i'm glad saturnine supports me in my "the doors suck" theory. i thought i was the only one. all my friends like them so i hardly bring it up anymore. i just stay confused. the band got a lot of attention way back when for having that pretty boy of a lead singer, not for being good.

 

i read somewhere that people started REALLY carring after apocalypse now.

 

don't get me wrong, they had some good songs, but i don't think they're worth all the hype.

it's so rare that you and i disagree on music

 

i don't know what to think about this ;)

[borntohula]

oh dont worry, i won't hold being a doors fan against you ;) . yeah often times we agree on things but the way i see it is, right now i don't like the doors, and right now you like the doors, but both those things could change.

[squall17]

is it wrong to like them both equal? cause thats how i feel

[borntohula]

no, it isn't wrong at all.

[driftinginfluence]

i think so, yes

 

they're more worthy than hendrix is ;)

thats a lie and you know it!

[pennies]

not a massive doors fan, but how can you not like Hello, I love You...will you tell me your name? i can say that line in like 9 languages. i chose Lennon but am surprised the numbers are so uneven.

[driftinginfluence]

FYI, Strawberry Fields is a John tune, Paul just helped with the production.

 

I don't know. It all comes down to taste, and Paul wrote my favourite Beatles tunes so he gets my vote. That said, in the Beatles, I don't either was stronger than the other. Post-Beatles, John wrote a better album (Imagine) than any of Paul's, but still, I can barely make a full mix cd of songs I like from either of their solo careers.

i stand corrected, Strawbery Fields sounds like a john tune, i should have known better. Paul's work after the the beatles was dissapointing to me, as he wrote so many good songs pre-wings (though i did here his new album is good). There is a mystique about John becuase he was shot, if Paul would have died it may have been different.