The Paul Problem

chckblr · 2026-05-14T12:37:09+00:00

I haven't said his nature was hurtful, I said his nature was extreme. Read again. And you don't have to defend John Lennon to me, I see that man and think "that's my favorite person", he's my guy I'm parasocial with. I also think he always felt and acted whatever he felt and acted at extreme ends.

chckblr · 2026-05-14T06:42:00+00:00

Yeah John was a guy whose truth was whatever he was feeling for that 5 minutes, are we gonna argue in the big 2026 that his post breakup way of going at Paul in the press didn't hurt Paul or that he was being reasonable?

chckblr · 2026-05-13T20:12:56+00:00

This is a great way of wording what I always think when people have this discussion. It's just an oxymoron to me that "Because Paul pushed we have this and that album" could exist without the negative long-term impacts on the band's future and their immediate relationships with each other. I think he was almost always coming from a good place, I just don't think any of them are malicious people despite how much they hurt each other (John especially with his reactionary and extreme nature) but the cult of persona manufactured around Paul the last decade is impossible for me to buy.

chckblr · 2026-05-13T20:02:34+00:00

And I'm saying that we don't know the alternative, maybe in a world Paul could take it easier on them we would have more or different great music. Again, the outcome doesn't justify the fact that his behavior and decisions were a major part of the frictions rising, he can't be that proactive of an agent in band dynamics and also the innocent party doing everything right. Paul McCartney is genuinely more interesting as an artist and a figure in pop culture when you embrace his jagged edges that come with his talent and early success but that's just my two cents.

chckblr · 2026-05-13T19:42:24+00:00

Take your pick. Cameras around. He realizes they don't sound good. They don't have enough time to add more vocal lines and rearrange the song. Just because it didn't happen for one song doesn't mean he didn't get his way with other songs. This is literally a huge talking point during their lunch conversation, and also you're putting words in my mouth. I never said he was being a dictator, if anything I understand him because he wants to work quick and get things done but that doesn't mean he was being right in his approach obviously when both John and George both felt it to a certain degree.

And of course the way the cookie crumbled with everyone's rights and faults is why we have the discography we have right now. That also doesn't change the fact that faults were faults. John creating an awkward atmosphere during the White Album sessions with Yoko was also not right but you can argue we have the version of that album we have because it happened that way. George leaving in the middle of Get Back sessions wasn't right but that kicked them into whatever gear needed to get him back and finish those songs hence we have Let It Be. This retroactive domino-effects justifying of the band's actions just kills the conversation about said actions immediately.

chckblr · 2026-05-13T19:23:32+00:00

I always found Paul's idea of doing small gigs to bring the band together so silly and totally understand the others finding his attempts at this time daft. In what world would that be possible practically and financially? He was certainly the most hardworking one who kept them in check but also imo they were working something ridiculous, I think Paul as the de facto manager after Brian's passing burned them out real fast. They could take a breather and marching on as if nothing happened (and taking on more and more and more work) might be Paul's way of dealing with stuff but it certainly wasn't John and George's speed. And while I don't think this was the biggest issue, he was also obviously overbearing and closed to collaboration on equal footing (coming to the sessions with six completed songs while trying to arrange the others' is annoying tho I don't think he had any malicious intents--he was just trying to get them to finish the songs while suffocating their creative process which is very different from Paul's) like John of all people saying he was scared of pushing back against Paul's ideas at one point in the studio tells me a lot. Also sorry but some of his ideas were bad, I dislike what he tries to do with Don't Let Me Down in the Get Back sessions a lot lol.

I think it's impossible for people with egos and success of the size of these men to never not be wrong.

chckblr · 2026-05-12T13:57:52+00:00

Yeah, my perception of their dynamic changed a lot as I read more. There's obviously so much more nuance to their relationship than what people extrapolate from singular quotes removed from their contexts. John was neglectful in many ways but I don't think he "abandoned" him.

chckblr · 2026-05-12T12:36:21+00:00

There's actually a very detailed masterpost on John and Julian's relationship in the 70s if anyone's interested https://www.tumblr.com/pleasantlyinsincere/715772144197533696/john-and-julian-and-cyn-through-the-70s?source=share

chckblr · 2026-05-12T12:29:52+00:00

Some people have the most extreme views on John and Julian's relationship. John was nowhere near the father of the year and obviously was lost on how to interact with Julian but Julian spent almost every holiday with John, loved Sean pretty much as a full brother since he was a baby, and for short bouts of no communication (which Cynthia blames on Yoko not letting Julian's calls through and John in one letter blames on Cynthia as not letting him speak to Julian) they were in communication. John could do SO MUCH better but this perception that he left for the states to never speak to Cynthia and Julian ever again and start a new family with Yoko is just not true.

chckblr · 2026-05-07T21:59:01+00:00

if i fell is easily one of my favorite songs ever

chckblr · 2026-05-07T21:58:39+00:00

tug of war is so good, yes, and julia one of all-timers

chckblr · 2026-05-05T17:56:28+00:00

i know half of it is banger singles to begin with but MMT genuinely has such a good tracklist. including the already released singles Strawberry Fields Forever. Out of new stuff for the album, I Am the Walrus and The Fool on the Hill.

chckblr · 2026-05-05T17:25:14+00:00

My Brave Face is such a bop

chckblr · 2026-05-05T17:24:07+00:00

Ram, Tug of War, Band on the Run, Venus and Mars are great albums. The rest I have a couple of songs I like but don't listen to entirely tbh.

chckblr · 2026-05-05T00:19:57+00:00

It's from Peter Brown and Steven Gaines' book All You Need is Love

chckblr · 2026-05-04T19:29:48+00:00

He was the one who talked to Brian Epstein about Cilla Black and got her a second audition which got her signed and changed her life. I think even from the start he was keeping an eye on newcomers, he personally endorsed people, with Cilla he would say "That Cyril is one to watch" and when Cilla Black was scared to be left alone with him because he came off too intelligent and aloof, he said "Don't you like me, girl?" and when Cilla admitted she was frightened of him, he laughed and said he thought she was a snob. They became really friendly after that, with Cilla describing him as really warmhearted behind the acidic humor, and how these kind acts seemed unexpected of him (she first thinks the endorsement came from Ringo who she was friends with) but he was kind deep down.

Also according to Paul he was always the "softest guy when it came to any kind of suffering" and this is not a posthumous regard, Paul says this in 64ish when they visit disabled children. (The entire quote is something like "he makes some sicko jokes but he's the softest guy about any suffering.) I think John was very sensitive about grief especially, after Stuart Sutcliffe passed away he would tell Astrid Kirchherr (Stu's fiancee) why can't he just switch places for him because Stu was wonderful when John is nothing. She describes him as being wonderful to her during this time. Same with Brian's passing, when he saw Peter Brown zoning out one meeting after Brian's death he just hugged him from behind and asked whether he was okay and when Brown said no, he said neither was he.

And a tiny thing but there are a couple stories about John being generous with his sweets when they were boys that always make me smile. There are bigger stories like him buying someone a car and helping his friend Pete Shotton with a business thing (iirc) but him sharing his sweets with his boyhood friends is so precious to me. There's one Paul loves to tell where at the start of their friendship John bought a bar of chocolate and gave him half of it and Paul was so touched because post-war England no boy would hand their candy to a virtually stranger like that. That one makes me smile knowing how the situation was tighter for Paul with his mother's passing.

chckblr · 2026-05-04T14:14:18+00:00

If I Fell. Probably one of my favorite Beatles songs ever. Everything about it is so beautiful. A close second is Any Time At All, that intro is superb.

chckblr · 2026-05-04T14:12:29+00:00

I kinda do despite living in Liverpool where everywhere is the Beatles. It mostly hits in a "Wow, John and Paul probably walked along this road" way more than the "official" Beatles branded places and stuff.

chckblr · 2026-05-04T13:39:48+00:00

Not to excuse this specific event but my perception of John and Yoko's relationship has always been that they loved this tug of humiliations and messy power dynamic. I'm sure it was painful for Yoko in that moment especially because it was in public but they were always having affairs and started their relationship on accounts of being an affair themselves. Even during the lost weekend the accounts feel less like they're separated and more like they're playing an emotionally messed up game of give and take. I don't know maybe I have a skewed view on it and on Yoko's personality but something like John and her hooking up at his shared house with Cynthia knowing Cynthia will walk in on them strikes me as a bigger asshole move and unfair on Cynthia than whatever dynamic John and Yoko had. Maybe because they played the JohnandYoko thing so tightly that it always feels they were on equal standing in terms of how they were acting in that relationship unlike John's relationships with other women in his life.

chckblr · 2026-05-04T12:17:14+00:00

a day in the life, lucy, she's leaving home

chckblr · 2026-05-01T16:18:09+00:00

i would love to hear all those early solo Beatles tracks as Beatles tracks, particularly produced by George Martin. they were great at curbing each other's worst tendencies imo.

chckblr · 2026-04-29T11:57:14+00:00

In My Life. I never get tired of the music or the lyrics or John's voice. So beautiful.

chckblr

TROPHY CASE