Paul McCartney and John Lennon bonded over early emotional trauma
The new tome ‘John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs’ explores the emotional bond of Beatles legends Sir Paul McCartney and John Lennon.
Sir Paul McCartney and the late John Lennon bonded over the premature deaths of their mothers.
The Beatles bandmates both experienced traumatic losses early in life — namely the loss of their mothers as teenagers — that made them able to relate to one another and helped forge one of the most renowned songwriting partnerships in music legend.
The bond between the two Beatles legends is detailed in the upcoming book ‘John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs’ by Ian Leslie.
In an extract obtained by The Sunday Times Magazine, McCartney said: “Each of us knew that had happened to the other … at that age you’re not allowed to be devastated, and particularly as young boys, teenage boys, you just shrug it off.
“I’m sure I formed shells and barriers in that period that I’ve got to this day. John certainly did.”
But the shared nature of these experiences contributed to their connection while writing music for the legendary rock band the two helped form in 1960s alongside drummer Sir Ringo Starr and late guitarist George Harrison.
The Lennon-McCartney duo wrote 65 songs together just the two of them — including this ‘A Day in the Life’ and ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’ — before the band split in 1969 and Lennon’s assassination in 1980.
McCartney lost his mother, Mary — who is name-checked on Beatles classic 'Let It Be' — in 1956, when he was just 14. She died of breast cancer when she was just 47 years old. Her diagnosis and death happened within a month, sending shockwaves through the family.
The 82-year-old bassist and singer, who is still an active musician, recalled: “Worst thing about that was everyone was very stoic, so nobody talked about it.”
Mary’s earnings as a nurse and midwife made up a large sum of the McCartney household's income. His younger brother, Mike, cried upon hearing the news of their mother’s death, and, in addition to his grief, Paul was worried about the family scraping by.
Just two years after McCartney's tragic loss, Lennon also experienced the sudden death of his mother, who died in 1958 after being struck by a car on a crosswalk.
The book recounts Lennon's well-documented rocky relationship with his mother Julia. Lennon’s aunt Mimi became his primary caretaker in 1946, when Lennon was five, after Julia was found culpable of neglect.
Following his mother’s death, Lennon — who died young himself at only 40 years old — was absorbed by his grief.
He recalled thinking: “That’s really f***** everything. I’ve no responsibilities to anyone now.”
Lennon and McCartney met as teenagers in July 1957 at a garden party in Woolton, Liverpool.
Lennon said of their meeting 10 years later: “That was the day, the day that I met Paul, that it started moving.”
‘John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs’ comes out on March 27.
