The two Beatles songs John Lennon called “lousy”
He might been closely aligned with the idea of peace and love, but for a man so dedicated to the harmonious path, John Lennon could be more stinging than most. Following the dissolution of The Beatles in 1970, he tended to be particularly critical of his old band’s work.
Lennon delivered a variety of astounding takes about his work with The Beatles, with the two songs he decried as “lousy” two standouts. The first is ‘Eight Days a Week’ from 1964’s Beatles for Sale, one of their most divisive offerings. Although the track is a fan favourite, Lennon was critical of it and claimed it was his old songwriting partner, Paul McCartney’s attempt at writing a single for the 1965 Beatles movie Help! Famously, the former Beatles frontman hated many of McCartney’s efforts.
“‘Eight Days A Week’ was the running title for ‘Help!’ before they came up with Help!” Lennon claimed during an interview. “It was Paul’s effort at getting a single for the movie. That luckily turned to ‘Help!’ which I wrote, bam! bam!, like that and got the single. ‘Eight Days A Week’ was never a good song”.
“We struggled to record it and struggled to make it into a song. It was his initial effort, but I think we both worked on it. I’m not sure. But it was lousy anyway,” Lennon added. Ironically, despite him hating the song, it still went to number one in a number of countries, including the US.
It seems that this period, when Beatlemania was at its peak, produced several misfires in John Lennon’s eyes. The other track he was on record denouncing as “lousy” was ‘It’s Only Love’, which he mostly wrote on his own for the 1965 Beatles for Sale follow-up, Help. Although the album and ensuing film saw the Liverpool band cement their status as the 1960s’ definitive pop act, Lennon hated ‘It’s Only Love’ and took issue with the unoriginal nature of the lyrics.
Lennon made his feelings clear when speaking to David Sheff of Playboy in 1980, the last interview he gave before his assassination. “‘It’s Only Love’ is mine,” Lennon asserted, “I always thought it was a lousy song. The lyrics were abysmal. I always hated that song.”
Containing trite lines such as “Is it right that you and I should fight, every night?”, there’s no reason Lennon distanced himself from the composition.
Listen to the tracks below.
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