John Lennon Resented Paul McCartney for Writing the Most Popular Beatles Song

The Beatles are one of those bands that have too many hits to list them. But if there's one that stands out, that would be "Yesterday." The song was not only a huge success, becoming the most covered song in the history of recorded music, but it was also groundbreaking for The Beatles as a band. Musically, it was a huge departure from what they, and all other rock bands, were doing. It was a ballad, sung over a string arrangement instead of rock instruments. And most importantly, written and performed solely by Paul McCartney.

"Yesterday"' Changed the Dynamics Within The Beatles

In 1965, The Beatles were working on their fifth studio album, Help! In addition to being an album, it was also the soundtrack for a movie they were making by the same name. The album included several hit tracks, but "Yesterday" was definitely the highlight. The song was magical from its conception. Paul McCartney shares the story in his book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. At the time, he was living in a spare bedroom in his girlfriend Jane Asher's parents' house. It was a small room with a piano right next to the bed, and one morning, McCartney woke up with a tune stuck in his head. It was so clear and specific that he was sure it was someone else's song, and he was just remembering it. He asked his bandmates, who didn't know the tune, and then producer George Martin, thinking it might be classical music. Martin also didn't know it, but he immediately loved the song.

McCartney finished it shortly after, but despite the good feedback he was receiving, he was still a little self-conscious, as the song was too different from what rock bands were doing at the time. However, Martin encouraged him to put it out and even convinced him to use a string section in place of the band. McCartney recorded it by himself, and when the band would play it live, he would sing it alone. It was the first time The Beatles had done something like that, and they were still confused as to how the song would fit among the other, more traditional Beatles songs.

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The song was included on the album as a regular track, with the band members thinking of it as more of a filler track. It didn't even make it into the movie, since it was recorded too late. However, the American branch of their record label had another idea. In the U.S., they saw the potential of the song and released it as a single. The song would have probably been a success either way, but after it was released as a single, it was catapulted into stardom, going straight to number 1 and spending four weeks there.

The success of the song was immediate, and while it was great for the band, it caused a silent rift between McCartney and John Lennon. The Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership ensured that every song either of them wrote would have equal credit, but the fact that McCartney was able to write the most successful song of the band, all on his own, challenged the unspoken hierarchy of the band that, until then, held Lennon as the leader. While they always wrote together, Lennon had, until then, been the originator of most of the popular songs. "Yesterday" changed that forever, making it clear to the band, and to McCartney himself, that he could stand on his own as a songwriter.

John Lennon Resented Not Writing "Yesterday"

John Lennon had trouble adjusting to the new dynamic within the band, even though he tried his best to hide it. Paul McCartney noticed, though, and maintained that Lennon held a grudge for years over not writing "Yesterday". "The worst thing for John was that he didn’t write "Yesterday," I did," he said. "And he would get really quite biffed because you would be in New York and the pianist would go and hum the song. That would annoy him." Lennon playfully referred to this, but only lightly complained. He also mentioned the song in his 1971 diss track to McCartney, insulting him by saying, "The only thing you done was 'Yesterday'."

During one of his last interviews in 1980, he spoke about the song, implying that he was frustrated that the song got mentioned to him so much. "I have had so much accolade for "Yesterday." That is Paul's song, of course, and Paul's baby," he stated. Ironically, he then, unprompted, added, "Well done. Beautiful-- and I never wished I had written it."

The song is one of the biggest pop culture references from the 20th century. It forever changed the rules of what rock bands could do, one of the many times The Beatles pushed the boundaries of popular music. But for them as people, it was more than that. It was the beginning of a rift between Lennon and McCartney, their independence breaking through after the two of them had been writing together since they were teenagers. Only four years and many incredible albums later, The Beatles would go their separate ways, chasing that independence they started to crave after over a decade of their lives being intertwined.