‘We Love You’: The Rolling Stones song John Lennon thought was ripped from The Beatles
It can feel like, in today’s musical world, bands are so heavily media-trained and wary of social media backlash that they hesitate to share honest opinions about other artists. Countless instances of fan outrage in response to even minor remarks have made this clear. John Lennon, however, was among the most outspoken rock stars during his all-too-brief career, never shying away from sharing his unfiltered thoughts.
Never one to shy away from sharing his opinions, Lennon was often scathing in his assessments of The Beatles during post-breakup interviews, frequently taking shots at the Fab Four whenever the chance arose. While Lennon seemed comfortable bringing his former bandmates down a peg, he was far less tolerant when others attempted to do the same. The ‘Imagine’ singer could criticise The Beatles all he liked, but he wasn’t willing to let their contemporaries follow suit.
The truth is, the Beatles, despite being global superstars so early on in their career, were, before fame came for them, just a group of four local lads from Liverpool with Lennon, as one of the elders, firmly in charge. This meant he could be tough on his group, but he also defended them to the hilt from outside attackers. After Mick Jagger took it upon himself to make a few comments on the band, he found out firsthand what annoying Lennon could provoke.
During John Lennon’s interview with Rolling Stone‘s Jann Wenner, the Beatle was asked about his relationship with the Stones frontman and what he thought of their new music. His answer was particularly scathing. “I think it’s a lot of hype,” answered Lennon flatly. The Rolling Stones had continued to be a mammoth success after The Beatles disbanded, but Lennon was intent on bringing them down.
“I like ‘Honky Tonk Woman’ but I think Mick’s a joke,” replied Lennon. “I always did. I enjoy it, I’ll probably go and see his films and all, like everybody else, but really, I think it’s a joke.” The Stones and The Beatles had once been a part of the same swinging scene, even exchanging songs on occasion, but by 1970, things had clearly changed between the groups.
When asked if he catches up with Jagger any more, Lennon replied: “No. I never do see him.”
What follows is a slightly tyrannical and, perhaps more likely, affronted dressing down of Jagger and The Rolling Stones. He said: “I was always very respectful about Mick and the Stones, but he said a lot of sort of tarty things about the Beatles, which I am hurt by, because you know, I can knock the Beatles, but don’t let Mick Jagger knock them.” But the real powerful retort came when Lennon suggested the Stones had been copying their Liverpudlian counterparts. “I would like to just list what we did and what the Stones did two months after on every fuckin’ album,” fired Lennon across the tape.
“Every fuckin’ thing we did, Mick does exactly the same – he imitates us. And I would like one of you fuckin’ underground people to point it out, you know Satanic Majesties is Pepper, ‘We Love You,’ it’s the most fuckin’ bullshit, that’s ‘All You Need Is Love’.” This is where things get a little tricky. While the albums could be intrinsically linked, though we’d imagine everyone got a little trippy in the psychedelic 1960s, the two songs in question are worlds apart.
Firstly, let’s just note that ‘We Love You’ and ‘All You Need Is Love’ are very far apart sonically. In fact, apart from the overarching theme of love, it’s hard to see Lennon’s point at all. What’s more, the track was apparently constructed with the help of Lennon and McCartney. According to the book The Rolling Stones – All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, the Beatles duo joined Keith Richards and beat poet Allen Ginsberg in the studio on a summer’s day in 1967. It led to a session which saw Lennon, McCartney and Jagger share vocal duties, and Ginsberg described the trio as the angels and musical deities of Botticelli’s paintings.
Perhaps the real point of Lennon’s anger at the Stones was frustration. While they had a rough early ride as the darker side of pop music, by 1970, The Rolling Stones were now being heralded as the future of rock and roll. It would’ve been enough to put Lennon’s nose out of place: “I resent the implication that the Stones are like revolutionaries and that The Beatles weren’t. If the Stones were or are, The Beatles really were too. But they are not in the same class, music-wise or power-wise, never were.”
It’s hard to say that The Beatles didn’t inspire the Rolling Stones, but the group were being caught up in the swell of the Fab Four’s tidal wave of pop domination and, when faced with such a force, the smartest thing to do is pick up a board and try to surf it into a new shore. While it might feel wrong to assume our favourite band copied another, chances are that every one of the musicians you hold dearest have done exactly that at one point or another.
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