Nobody can ever truly comprehend what it was like to be inside one of The Beatles’ heads. Fame propelled them before they had a chance to understand what it meant. And as a result, each member had unrestricted access to every corner of the globe. They had the Earth in the palm of their hands and had no idea what to do with it.
Members tried a variety of methods to disconnect from Beatlemania. Soul searching became an attempt to understand who they were as individuals outside of the Beatles. That search led them to India, where they met Hindu guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
However, no matter where the band went in the world, they could never escape their songwriter intuition, and as a result, the time spent in India resulted in the production of a few different songs that ended up on The White Album. John Lennon wrote two tracks at the location, ‘I’m So Tired’ and ‘Yer Blues’. Lennon later said that both songs were incredibly realistic. The comments shed light on his rather pessimistic attitude at the time.
With their songwriting abilities, John Lennon and Paul McCartney forever altered the music industry. While they got along well as a team, that didn’t mean they didn’t have disagreements. In the case of ‘Yer Blues,’ Lennon disregarded McCartney’s advice before releasing the song.
“They’re pretty realistic, they were about me,” Lennon said, “and they always struck me as – what’s the word? Funny… ironic? – that I wrote ‘I’m So Tired’… songs of such pain as ‘Yer Blues,’ which I meant, supposedly in the presence of [a] guru and meditating so many hours a day.”
He explained how ‘Yer Blues’ was a slight parody of English blues and a self-conscious song, where he and McCartney differed creatively. “Yeah, so there’s a little self-consciousness about suddenly singing blues,” John admitted, “but Paul was saying, ‘Don’t call it ‘Yer Blues,’ just say it straight.'” But I was self-conscious, so I chose ‘Yer Blues.’ But I think all that is past now because we’ve all got over… that self-consciousness.”
The band never released the song as a single, but included it on their best-selling album, The White Album. It reached number one on the Billboard 200 and stayed there for 215 weeks. People still consider it to be one of their best.
John’s ability to disregard Paul’s advice and create a great song that would contribute to one of their best albums is a testament to his vision and writing ability. His work interprets everything around him, and people have always adored it.
