“Simple and true”: Paul McCartney names The Beatles’ greatest philosophical song
For legions of obsessive fans back in the 1960s and beyond, The Beatles were more akin to a way of life than a mere pop band. Moving away from the pithy pop songs of the era, John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote songs that spoke directly to audiences. Not only were their early tracks relatable to casual audiences, but their expansive psychedelic efforts in later years offered a stark exploration of the human psyche; the songwriters were as close to modern philosophers as pop singers can come.
By the early 1960s, the first age of rock ‘n’ roll was over: Elvis Presley was nearing the end of his military career, Buddy Holly had tragically died, and the music industry had managed to render a lot of rebellious rock into safe and sanitised pop. Audiences were crying out for a new voice and sound to represent the youth, and, releasing their debut single in 1962, The Beatles certainly fit that bill. Altering the course of the music industry indefinitely, the Liverpool band arrived on the scene armed with self-penned songs and, essentially, a sense of relatability to audiences.
Those early years were dominated by poppy love songs, Motown-inspired efforts, and homages to old R&B tunes, but the songwriters quickly progressed into something much more expansive and profound. Records like Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver were unlike anything audiences had encountered before, offering an unparalleled exploration of the human mind and the limits of songwriting.
It would not be outlandish to suggest that the band’s later records, particularly Abbey Road, feature elements of philosophy within their songwriting. After all, The Beatles were – at their core – four ordinary lads from Liverpool. Their songs were almost always focused on life, relationships, and humanity as a whole, and these trailblazing philosophical efforts only became more prevalent as the ‘Mop Tops’ progressed into mature and profound artists.
According to Paul McCartney, however, The Beatles always maintained a philosophical streak in their work, going right back to their earliest singles. During a 1967 interview with The Observer, around the time of Sgt Pepper’s, Macca mused, “You get to the bit where you think, if we’re going to write great philosophy, it isn’t worth it.” In the mind of the songwriter, pop music should not aim to evoke Plato, Nietzche, or Schopenhauer, but that didn’t stop The Beatles’ unique sound from being philosophical in its own right.
Continuing, the songwriter declared, “‘Love Me Do’ was our greatest philosophical song.” The single that first established The Beatles in the musical mainstream of the UK, it reached 17 in the UK charts upon its release in October 1962 and topped the US charts when it was released there two years later.
For McCartney, the philosophical nature of the seemingly simple love song is underpinned by its earworm chorus, “Love me do/ you know I love you/ I’ll always be true/ So love me do/ Please love me do.” The lyrics are not overtly philosophical, certainly not in the sense of written philosophy as it was understood back in the 1960s, but they still offer a profound take on human nature and philosophy. “For it to be simple and true,” McCartney shared, “means that it’s incredibly simple.”
That simplicity was key to the band’s early success and is reflective of their unique power within the music industry. Such was the quality of The Beatles’ songwriting that the band could say so much with a few short, seemingly simple lines. McCartney’s philosophical explorations might not have been as expansive as the likes of Rousseau, Kant, or Aristotle, but then again, it is difficult to imagine any of those figures writing anything quite as good as ‘Love Me Do’.
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