Who was the better songwriter: John Lennon or Paul McCartney?

They co-wrote 23 US No 1 singles. McCartney is credited as the writer on a total of 32 number one hits in the US to Lennon’s 26, whereas Lennon authored 29 UK number ones to McCartney’s 28 (25 co-written). This is amazing in itself.
The Beatles are still played all over the world. They have the most number one hits on the US singles chart to their name, with 20.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney Individually were both giants. Together they were simply the greatest song writing team in history and a true miracle.
Together they wrote much better than they did singularly. They were geniuses individually but together they made magic.

source

By: wildsPosted on Categories : Categories : UncategorizedTags:

47 Replies to “Who was the better songwriter John Lennon or Paul McCartney?”

  4. The combination was Lennon and McCartney, but we all know deep down that McCartney did most of the heavy work. That's why he's controversial at the time, he was "the leader" that wanted to break apart.

  5. put it this way, paul was a musician who made music, john was an artist who made magic, lennon stuck his neck out and became a social activist and that could of destroyed his fame and money, and maybe it did in some ways but he was right with that, he wanted to expose the wrong, empower the people and promote truth, and paul was simply a yes man and stuck his head in the sand, and that's fine, but as i get on my soap box, you only have so little life to make an impact, so do it, and that's not saying pauls music didn't inspire, but the personalities, they were different, best way to compare them, john is 2pac, and paul is biggie

  6. They where the perfect foil for one another as band mates and songwriters. John was more revolutionary and influential with his lyric writing which pretty much created modern songwriting. His songs concentrated mainly on the lyrics and than the melodies which were although flat, but effective. His songs dealt usually in the first person, himself, and John’s entire songwriting career was largely autobiographical. His songs also where unique in their edginess and surreal nature that defined the times.
    Paul was much more a musical songwriter. His incredible gift for conjuring up melodies, his ability to take on any instrument made his songs more hummable and catchy to the ear which gave him the edge in record sales, although in their early years it was definitely a 50-50 collaboration in their big hit singles.
    Unlike John, Paul didn’t reveal much of himself in his songs, rather creating tales of other people and the ability to write timeless standards that have been huge crowd pleasers ever since.
    Paul was ultimately the king of the pop world, but John was the court jester who dared to go that bit deeper.

  9. Personally, I can't split them. The way I settle it is if I could only listen to the songs of one of them again, forever, it would be Paul's, as I couldn't bear to never again hear Yesterday, Penny Lane, Blackbird, Michelle, Here There And Everywhere, Let It Be, to name just a few.

  10. They did co-create many songs, ok? Devil's advocate since he's gone, Lennon was captain of the boat until Pepper, then Macca started directing them more. But imagine that album without A Little help, Lucy, or Day in the life… Lennon gave them a weight and heavyness that not only made them more memorable but influenced most musical acts then and now.

  18. The sad thing about the Beatles the music was getting better when they broke up in 1970 People think Yoko broke them up she definitely didn't help but your talking about four talented musicians in a band They wanted to go in different directions and they did I think eventually they would of had a reunion tour if that loser didnt kill Lennon

  20. McCartney has always been my favourite Beatle and I have all of the Wings CDS but I have to say I think Lennon's songwriting is superior. Silly love songs V Imagine. or Mary had a little Lamb v Woman or C Moon V Startin Over………I rest my case

  21. Anybody knows the real deal with 'In My Life'? Macca says the melody and chords are all his, but… hhhmmm…. I recall Lennon stating otherwise. Since Macca had (still has) over 40 years more to state his claim (and he is kinda famous for re-writing History, as I hearsay) I guess we'll never really know. Brilliant tune, anyway.

  22. Neat job pal, you nailed it! As brilliant as songs like Something, Here Comes the Sun, Within You Without You, Only a Northern Song, Taxman, Think For Yourself, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, If I needed someone, etc… may be, well, all these Harisongs, they kinda 'came late' in the Beatles lore, for they were all written years prior to their release, as George have always claimed. George's contributions to songs like Day Tripper, Norwegian Wood, Come Together, Hey Bulldog, Nowhere Man, etc certainly helped shape the Beatles sound we know and cherish… and his further work like My Sweet Lord, Gimme Love, What is Life, etc shows he might have been both apt and ripe as a composer, but a little intimidated by and somehow stonewalled from the songwriters' core in the Fab Four. Only when Abbey Road was released folks were like… 'Oh, his songs are actually at least as good as the other ones.' BTW, it takes a genius-level musician like Macca to get away with silly love songs. He will make the top ten composers ever list for a very very long time, I daresay forever. Cheers!!!

  26. Havent watched the video, but this is pointless. Like Beatles were some kind of X-Factor show. I’ve watched several of this channels videos, and they were great. This is sub par. Makes me wanna unsubscribe. Nothing but clickbait.

  31. I wonder if both their individual efforts combined exceeded their earnings while they were together? Nonetheless, they were both distinct. Lennon's songs had more substance. McCartney's were more calm and less involved. They both made the world better than they found it.

  33. The musical style of the Beatles was created mainly by John Lennon. John also had an original style of clothing and hairstyles changing every year, lyrics, smart thoughts, independent statements, most inventive songs. And Paul tuned in and wrote good tunes.

  36. Everyone here needs to understand one thing, definitely! In the book "Summer of love. The making of Sgt. Peppers", George Martin said: "I'm sure that if John and Paul hadn't met, they wouldn't have become the great songwriter they both were. One influenced the other.

  40. I absolutely love the Beatles. I prefer Paul's songwriting skills as I think works like "Hey Jude", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" are amazing but John was also a genius and also love many of the songs that he wrote especially "Help." And let's not forget George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." They are definitely the very best band of all time. Their voices are amazing!!

  41. I absolutely love the Beatles. I prefer Paul's songwriting skills as I think works like "Hey Jude", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" are amazing but John was also a genius and also love many of the songs that he wrote especially "Help." And let's not forget George's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." They are definitely the very best band of all time. Their voices are amazing!!

  43. John was a great lyricist, Paul was a great musician. Although Paul wrote some surprisingly good lyrics and John wrote some surprisingly good melodies. John's songs had more depth, Paul's songs had more memorable melodies. The very fact that people don't sing along to John's songs the way they do to Paul's songs is part of what makes John great in my opinion. It's too deep and too poetic for people to sing along to it.

Leave a Reply