John Lennon - Paul McCartney - The Beatles

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‘Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)’: The John Lennon song Paul McCartney couldn’t live without

Fri 27 December 2024 11:49, UK

Paul McCartney and John Lennon’s relationship at the centre of the cultural behemoth that would become The Beatles is that of a modern-day childhood sweetheart. The duo found each other in their teenage years and went through a host of life experiences by each other’s side, sharing the highs and lows in equal measure as they motored through an expansive career. It was a bond formed by loss and matured within the confines of fame.

The duo were a powerhouse of song, creating some of the finest works of the century and beyond. But soon enough, like all young love, they realised they couldn’t be attached to another songwriter for their entire adult life. Their egos and desire for artistic integrity would push them apart as resentment and tensions grew, and a messy divorce was inevitable.

After The Beatles disbanded, the anger and hostility that seemed so warranted decreased, and the duo eventually shared some good times together again. The Beatles had provided them with the means to luxuriate outside of making pop music, and it seemed as though the two men, now wiser and with less pressure to be pop stars, oftentimes preferred just being John and Paul rather than Lennon-McCartney. Of course, their newfound friendship outside of the Fab Four didn’t last nearly long enough as John Lennon was tragically assassinated in front of his home in 1980.

Following Lennon’s death, McCartney has largely spoken favourably of his friend. No stranger to his cantankerous ways, as a mark of respect, Macca neglects to take shots at his late bandmate and, with a substantial solo career in tow, prefers to keep the trips down memory lane to a relative minimum. However, in the year before his death, Lennon was more than happy to wax lyrical about the group that had given him so much. And not always favourably.

More often than not, these were simple re-tellings of the song’s conception or picking out tracks he didn’t particularly like, citing a lot that he hated. However, he also spoke very favourably of Paul McCartney’s songwriting skill, highlighting tracks he loved that Paul had written in several interviews. That said, it’s rare to find Paul McCartney doing the same thing outside of a courtesy mention of how well his partner had put together a track.

McCartney has been happy to pick out songs of The Beatles he loved but never cited particular Lennon favourites except for one moment while appearing on BBC Radio’s Desert Island Discs. The show is a British institution, and prominent figures of the world sit down with their host and pick eight songs they would take with them to an inescapable desert island.

In the 1982 episode on which McCartney features, two years after Lennon’s murder, the musician pays homage to his friend and picks quite possibly his favourite Lennon song of all time, noting that the track has a way of underlining the huge influence of the Liverpudlian, both on the world and McCartney. During the show, he walks host Roy Plomley through his life in music so far, with a special mention of the numbers which shaped him.

Naturally, McCartney takes Plomley through The Beatles’ very early beginnings, from The Quarrymen to Johnny and The Moondogs to The Silver Beetles and onwards. It’s a touchingly candid walk through history as McCartney regales the iconic Plomley with stories of the band’s inception as one might their father about a local football game. A few names and a few places will ring out for Beatles fans, but otherwise, it is a beautifu,l gentle journey down the history of rock and roll.

It’s a precursor to McCartney’s fifth and probably most poignant selection of discs to take with him to his desert island retreat, as only two years after his murder, he picks his favourite song to be stranded with as John Lennon’s ‘Beautiful Boy’. It’s a touching track and undoubtedly one of Lennon’s most moving. The fact that McCartney picked it showed that Macca wasn’t only thinking of his friend but those Lennon had left behind too.

He says of selecting the beautiful song, “I haven’t chosen any Beatles records, but if we had more than eight, I probably would have. I haven’t chosen any of my records so to sum up the whole thing I have chosen one of John Lennon’s from Double Fantasy, which I think is a beautiful song very moving to me. So, I’d like to sum up the whole thing by playing ‘Beautiful Boy’.”

The track is particularly poignant because it represents Lennon’s changing life. Long gone were the days of primal screaming of bed-ins for peace on the world stage, the songwriter was now far more concerned with his role as a father, and spent the majority of his time looking after his todller son, Sean Ono Lennon. The track was a tribute to him: “The joy is still there when I see Sean. He didn’t come out of my belly, but, by God, I made his bones because I’ve attended to every meal, and to how he sleeps, and the fact that he swims like a fish,” he shared.

“That’s because I took him to the ‘Y’. I took him to the ocean. I’m so proud of those things. He is my biggest pride, you see.”

He added: “Well, what can I say? It’s about Sean. It’s self-explanatory. The music and the lyric came at the same time.”

It’s a heartwarming moment as it signifies McCartney’s pain and grief and his commitment to helping his friend’s family, acknowledging the song’s intended recipient as John’s son Sean.