McCartney: ‘Lennon’s criticisms were like little daggers’

Paul McCartney has returned to talk about the complex relationship with John Lennon in the years following the dissolution of the Beatles, recalling the pain caused by the public attacks of his friend and bandmate, but also the importance of the reconciliation that took place before Lennon’s death in 1980. In a new interview granted to NMEMcCartney recounted how Lennon’s barbs during the most turbulent period of the Beatles’ separation had been particularly difficult to bear.

“It was very painful at the time, like little daggers sticking into me” he explained. “It was frustrating because you thought, ‘Do I have to answer him? What do I do?’. But then I realized it was simply John. He was the boy I had known since I was 16. Once you understood this, it hurt less.” The clash between the two had its roots in the economic issues that accompanied the end of the Beatles. In fact, McCartney opposed the choice of the other band members to rely on manager Allen Klein, preferring the management proposed by the Eastman family. In the following years, Klein’s figure proved increasingly controversial and McCartney recalled how, over time, even Lennon came to recognize that his concerns were well-founded. “It was nice to hear John admit, albeit through gritted teeth, that maybe I was right,” McCartney said. “It was a painful time, but we probably had to go through it. Otherwise someone would have robbed us“.

The artist also underlined how important it was to be able to mend the relationship with Lennon. The two became closer again in the second half of the Seventies, also thanks to the birth of Sean Ono Lennonfinding new points of contact far from the tensions that had accompanied the end of the group. Despite the conflicts, McCartney today retains above all the positive memories of his deceased friend. “I have wonderful memories of John,” she said. “For me he was first of all a friend, the boy with whom I wrote songs and shared a fundamental part of my life“. This, of course, is McCartney’s only version, which Lennon cannot comment on.