The Beatles song John Lennon compared to Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B Goode’
The Beatles were always a reflection of what came before them. No matter how much they innovated their sound throughout their career, the work of John Lennon and Paul McCartney was always shaped by the music they loved, whether that was rock and roll, classical, experimental music or anything in between. When it came time for one of their final major singles, Lennon couldn’t help but fall back on his old-school heroes.
During the final years of the band’s tenure, Lennon was smitten with Yoko Ono and would often spend every minute he could with her, going on peaceful protests together or making zany experimental albums away from The Beatles. Amid the changing times, the couple decided to get married, and Lennon chose to put his feelings down in song.
From Lennon’s perspective, ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ is a song that puts a happy face on a bad situation. After facing ridicule from some of the biggest titans in the music industry, Lennon turned their troubled tale of getting married into a black comedy, where he talks about how the public might crucify him.
When talking about the construction of the tune, Lennon fell back on his old bag of tricks, saying that the song was “the story of us going along, getting married, going to Paris, going to Amsterdam, all that. It’s ‘Johnny B. Paperback Writer’”.
Then again, when listening to the track, there’s very little in common with the Berry classic. Instead of the roaring guitar of the ‘50s number, most of the arrangement of Lennon’s song is incredibly sparse due to the fact that only he and McCartney played on the final product. The real commonality comes with the way it was written.
Much like ‘Johnny B Goode’, Lennon approaches the lyrics like a story instead of any surrealistic imagery, as he documents everything that went into his marriage, from people criticising the couple’s bed-in for peace to moving from Paris to the Amsterdam Hilton. The comparison to the group’s own ‘Paperback Writer’ is also apt, considering that song originated with writing a letter the same way ‘The Ballad’ does.
Yoko would also commend McCartney for helping bring the track to life, recalling to Rolling Stone, “John was having a really hard time, and Paul just wanted to make it well for him. He has a very brotherly side”.
Despite some people being turned off by the fact that Yoko was the song’s subject matter, it became one of the last major Beatles singles to hit number one, which Lennon was delighted about. Amid the happy times between Lennon and McCartney, this also marked the beginning of the end of their creative partnership.
Going into the final months of the ‘60s, Lennon and McCartney would drift apart even further, eventually moving onto their own solo careers and leaving The Beatles behind. While the press might have become ugly towards the end of the band’s run together, listening to this track is the result of some good-natured fun between musical brothers.
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