Any artist, no matter how successful, can suffer from imposter syndrome. Even when the world praises them as one of the best, there are always critics ready to dismiss their work, leaving the artist to wonder why their music is even appreciated.
John Lennon, known for his blunt critiques of Paul McCartney’s Beatles songs, often felt his own work, like Help! and I Want To Hold Your Hand, could have been recorded better.
However, The Beatles were never about one person’s vision. Even though The White Album saw the band beginning to splinter into solo artists judging each other’s contributions, they still managed to collaborate when needed, such as on George Harrison’s While My Guitar Gently Weeps.
In their early years, The Beatles’ focus was on capturing raw energy. George Martin, their producer and often regarded as their songwriting coach, pushed them to speed up songs to make them more dynamic.
This approach transformed tracks like Please Please Me from a slow Roy Orbison-style ballad into the energetic anthem that launched Beatlemania.
The faster tempo wasn’t just a production choice—it shaped the sound of hits like Help! and I Want To Hold Your Hand.
The simplicity of I Want To Hold Your Hand worked well at various speeds, and while Help! could have been more reflective, Lennon’s anxious lyrics were amplified by the song’s brisk, driving beat.
Lennon, though, was often his own harshest critic. He later expressed dissatisfaction with how Help! and I Want To Hold Your Hand were recorded, saying, “I don’t like the recording too much; we did it too fast trying to be commercial…
I might do I Want To Hold Your Hand and Help! again because I like them and I can sing them.”
This wasn’t the first time Lennon considered reworking his old songs.
He had always struggled with self-criticism, especially about his voice, and told George Martin that he wanted to remix and improve much of The Beatles’ catalog, even claiming that Strawberry Fields Forever needed some adjustments.
Although Lennon never got the chance to release a “Lennon’s Version” of his Beatles work, his later solo music offers a glimpse of what those slower versions might have sounded like.
Walls and Bridges opens with Going Down on Love, a track where Lennon reflects on Help!. And while Lennon didn’t commission it, art rock band Sparks eventually released a lounge-style version of I Want To Hold Your Hand, imagining the song at a slower tempo.
Yet, these reinterpretations lose some of the original energy. Lennon might have favored more downtempo versions of his songs, but it was the synergy between him and the rest of The Beatles that gave his music the spark that made Beatlemania ignite.
