Do you think that in John’s life, Paul was his great love?
I don’t doubt it from Paul’s side, I feel that since he’s the only one alive we can get more things from him, but I start thinking about John and I really wonder if it’s more likely to believe that John truly loved someone else with all his life, and that Paul was just one of the people he loved the most.”
I do think Paul was John’s great love, though maybe not always in the “storybook” sense. The intensity between them is undeniable: John himself compared their bond to a marriage countless times, and his jealousy, possessiveness, and lifelong fixation on Paul go far beyond what we see in his other relationships. Even in the 1970s, friends recall him constantly asking what Paul might be thinking or doing (and wondering if Paul thought about him), his diaries show Paul was still on his mind daily, and even in the late 70s he still recorded demos while obviously having Paul in mind (listen to this and this). That said, John also loved others very deeply — Yoko, Cyn, May, Stu — at different points in his life. With Yoko, for instance, he found a life partner who offered him stability, art collaboration, and the possibility of living openly as part of a couple in a way society wouldn’t have allowed with Paul. With Paul, it was a soulmate connection born out of youth, shared ambition, shared loss of their moms, rivalry, love, attraction, creativity, etc. So to me, Paul wasn’t “just one of the people” John loved — he was the one love that threaded through John’s whole life. It was Paul’s presence (and absence) shaped him the most.
