Paul McCartney has opened up to NME about making peace with John Lennon after their feud.
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The Beatles legend recently sat down with NME for our In Conversation series, where he reflected on his friendship with Lennon, and whether he had a responsibility to represent him in the “right way” after his death in 1980.
“I suppose so,” McCartney told us. “I never think of it like that. In one of the songs, ‘Days We Left Behind’, I talk about “we met at Forthlin Road”, which is where I used to live in Liverpool, and “we wrote a secret code to never be spoken”. I don’t feel like I have to be respectful. He’s just a mate – it’s just this guy who I met, and we wrote songs together, so I don’t feel a sense of responsibility. I hope it is responsible.”
He added that he had “very good memories” of Lennon, despite him “slagging me off a lot” towards the end of the band. The Beatles feuded over who was to be their new business manager, with McCartney’s suggestion of father-in-law Lee Eastman overruled by the rest of the band’s support of Allen Klein. Klein’s overbearing studio presence and predatory contracts – which McCartney refused to sign – caused the band’s eventual demise.
Reflecting on his fights with Lennon, McCartney said to NME: “At the time, it was very hurtful, like sticking little daggers in me. It was just annoying, because you thought, ‘I’ve got to answer him back, what am I going to do?’ But I suddenly realised, ‘Wait a minute, this is John. This is the guy I’ve known since I was 16. That’s just what he does.’ It didn’t sting so much once I realised it was just John being John.”
He added that it was “important” that he made up with Lennon. The pair reconciled around the time Sean Ono Lennon was born in 1975, where they bonded over parenting and baking bread. In a separate conversation with Sean himself, McCartney said it was “lovely” they were able to sort their differences.
Speaking to NME, McCartney reflected: “I was lucky because we’d been separated because of the business trouble and stuff, and John eventually came round to my way of thinking that the guy they wanted to bring in [Allen Klein] was a crook, and I’d suffered because they all thought I was the nutter, I was the crook.
“So, when it turned out that I was right, it was good to hear John say, ‘I think Paul might have been right’ – begrudgingly. He wasn’t one to say, ‘Yeah, you know what Paul told me…!’ He was like, “[mumbles] Yeah, he was right.’ So that made it much better. Even though it was a painful period, we kinda had to go through it, or someone would have robbed us.”
McCartney recently announced a special live ‘The Boys Of Dungeon Lane’ London in conversation event, which will take place at Camden’s Roundhouse next week (June 10).
Along with discussing the creation of his recent solo album ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane‘, which dropped last Friday (May 29), McCartney is set to share stories and insights from his first meeting with producer Andrew Watt in 2021.
He will also talk about duetting with former bandmate Ringo Starr for the first time. The legendary musician will also talk about artwork development and the album’s release.
Tickets for the event are on sale now – buy yours here.
Elsewhere, Taylor Swift has praised Paul McCartney, saying she’s “never not inspired” by the Beatles legend.