elly

[mclennonwasreal]

John & Paul writing together, 1969. Photo by Linda.

[javelinbk]

“When we sang together,” Lennon told Mintz in one of their conversations, “Paul and I would share the same microphone. I’d be close enough to kiss him. Back then, I didn’t wear me specs onstage – Brian Epstein said they made me look old. So we’d be playing these concerts, in front of thousands of people, but the only thing I could see was Paul’s face. He was always there next to me – I could always feel his presence. It’s what I remember most about those concerts.”

Excerpt from 'We All Shine On: John, Yoko & Me' by Elliot Mintz (link)

With thanks to @anotherkindofmindpod for originally posting the quote

[beatles-salad-deactivated202309]

reblog if racists have no place in the beatles fandom

[motherlennon]

REMEMBERING JOHN LENNON | 1940-∞ “It’s just too difficult [to talk about]. I feel that if I said anything about John, I would have to sit here for five days and say it all. Or I don’t want to say anything.”- Paul McCartney

[foryouwereinmysong]

Here Today vs Too Many People Paul McCartney about John Lennon some transcribed quotes from the Podcast »Mccartney: A Life in Lyrics«

[amoralto]

Oh, for what it’s worth, no less than John Lennon loved the song. I spent a long time talking to [photographer] Bob Gruen once, it was great as we talked about a lot of stuff that he doesn’t usually get grilled on. One of the things that came up was the times he spent with John listening to the radio. Bob singled this song out as one he and John would listen to and how much John loved the song. John took the song quite personally, and saw it as Paul sending a message to him: ‘Yeah, I know you think I only write silly love songs, but I love you.’ Bob said John specifically mentioned the ‘I love you’ refrain as being a message from Paul to him. We can speculate all we want, but I have no reason to doubt the word or memory of a guy who sat in the Dakota bedroom with John and listened to this song with him.

— gswan, c/o Steve Hoffman Music Forums. (October 28th, 2010)

[autechres]

john lennon's lyrics for now and then (2023) // andy peebles for daily mail uk (2015) // john lennon, i'm losing you (1980) // now and then doc (2023) // wings, dear friend (1971)

[lionfloss]

Lauterbrunnen–Mürren Mountain Railway Mürren, Switzerland

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

[hermionecentric]

turncoat

link; Turncoat

by; elizaye

word; 256k+

> Switching sides. “I have only one condition, and I trust it won’t be hard for you to meet. I want Granger.” Rated M for sex/language/torture.

[DRAMIONE]

note; okay disclaimer i dont think ive ever finished this one? it was amazing as far as i remember. pls check it out.

[john-and-paul]

all time favorite

[liveand-letdie]

1964 2022

a friendship that not even death could break

[shualcve]

i did a thing!! boys will be bugs but its soonyoung !! ( ◠‿◠ ) he is precious **

also have minghao, jisoo, wonu ones and plan on making the whole of seventeen

[neonun-au]

@naptimed

[castlesbyrs]

I also have to say this documentary did change my narrative surrounding John in so many areas. But mostly, I'm so surprised by one particular bit where someone from the crew - can't remember who- tells Paul:

He told me he doesn't want to not be a Beatle.

That bit was just... Mind-blowing to me.

John had shaped the narrative about those last months of the band as if he was fed up, exhausted and not wanting to be a part of it anymore, and yet what we see here is entirely the opposite of that. He's interested and having fun and bringing in new ideas, perhaps he's tired of being the boss as Paul called him, but he's still very much a part of the Beatles and enjoying it.

He'd also said he hated the Abbey Road Medley and thought it was a bunch of shit and yet here he is, writing Mean Mr Mustard and Polythene Pam whilst helping Paul write She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.

I'm so glad that narrative has been switched, and seeing John happy, at a peace and mostly not looking for trouble but rather for ways to bring the fab four back together is so refreshing, beautiful and yet so terribly tragic.

[beatlesshitposting]

John whenever he and Paul spoke in the early 70s

[phoneybeatlemania-bit-the-dust]

“Mimi is right about John (ref). He’s an extremely tender person, or rather he’s capable of tenderness. This tough, bitter side he has is a kind of protection. I feel sad for him because a lot of people seem to get satisfaction out of hurting him. Im only really sorry that with all his health and all his fame, he doesn’t appear to be happy. One thing I really wish for him is happiness.”

- Cynthia Lennon (c. 1977) in The Dream Is Over: Off The Record 2 by Keith Badman (pg. 216)

[phoneybeatlemania-bit-the-dust]

“John can be very tender. I know he has this reputation for being cynical and sharp, but I know him better. I know that beneath all that, he can be very warm. He asks how I am, how my health is, how the weather’s like…Then we’ll start to talk about the old days. The last time he was on, we started talking about his schooldays and the time he came home on the last day of term with his school report. He just rode up to the kitchen window on his bike, threw the report in and shouted, ‘im off out.’ I knew it must be a bad report, so I chased after him, shouting, ‘You come back here this minute, John Lennon,’ but he was off. We had a good laugh about that over the phone. I think, in a way, he’s a little bit lonely…”

- Aunt Mimi Smith (c. 1977) in The Dream Is Over: Off The Record 2 by Keith Badman (pg. 216)

[thecoleopterawithana]

“Often I would think of John, and what a pity it was that we’d argued so publicly and so viciously at times. At the time of writing this song, in early 1971, he’d called the McCartney album ‘rubbish’ in Rolling Stone magazine. It was a really difficult time. I just felt sad about the breakdown in our friendship, and this song kind of came flowing out. ‘Dear friend, what’s the time? / Is this really the borderline?’ Are we splitting up? Is this ‘you go your way; I’ll go mine’? […] John would say things like, ‘It was rubbish. The Beatles were crap.’ Also, ‘I don’t believe in The Beatles, I don’t believe in Jesus, I don’t believe in God.’ Those were quite hurtful barbs to be flinging around, and I was the person they were being flung at, and it hurt. So, I’m having to read all this stuff, and on the one hand I’m thinking, ‘Oh fuck off, you fucking idiot,’ but on the other hand I’m thinking, ‘Why would you say that? Are you annoyed at me or are you jealous or what?’ And thinking back fifty years later, I still wonder how he must have felt. He’d gone through a lot. His dad disappeared, and then he lost his Uncle George, who was a father figure; his mother; Stuart Sutcliffe; Brian Epstein, another father figure; and now his band. But John had all of those emotions wrapped up in a ball of Lennon. That’s who he was. That was the fascination. I tried. I was sort of answering him here, asking, ‘Does it need to be this hurtful?’ I think this is a good line: ‘Are you afraid, or is it true?’ – meaning, ‘Why is this argument going on? Is it because you’re afraid of something? Are you afraid of the split-up? Are you afraid of my doing something without you? Are you afraid of the consequences of your actions?’ And the little rhyme, ‘Or is it true?’ Are all these hurtful allegations true? This song came out in that kind of mood. It could have been called ‘What the Fuck, Man?’ but I’m not sure we could have gotten away with that then.”

— Paul McCartney, on “Dear Friend”. In The Lyrics (2021).