The Beatles never imposed rigid guidelines on who was allowed to sing what. It was common for John Lennon to sing a Paul McCartney song, and for George Harrison to enlist the assistance of “The Nerk Twins” on his material, even though the songwriters were typically in charge of choosing who would sing and how a track should sound. McCartney felt a duty to honor his departed friend Lennon whenever possible. However, he refrained from performing “Imagine” during these tributes.
Following The Beatles’ disbandment, McCartney and Lennon took separate career paths. Allen Klein’s intrusive involvement further widened their divide. Nevertheless, they persisted in pouring their innermost feelings into their music. McCartney might have appeared courageous during albums like RAM, but Lennon had something more to say.
John Lennon, amidst his global fame, chose to dedicate time to personal growth while founding the Plastic Ono Band. His decision marked a pivotal moment in his journey as an artist and public figure. Now that he had attained inner peace, “Imagine” became his way of spreading that message to the world. He simply asked them to picture a world where all people live in unison.
The rest of the audience didn’t seem to care that Lennon acknowledged the entire thing was just a sugar-coated version of his political views. McCartney maintained that he would never perform the song live. To him, it was just a straightforward song about what might happen if we treated each other a little bit better.
While on tour in 1990, Macca planned to perform Lennon’s signature song in honor of what would have been his 50th birthday. However, he changed his mind. McCartney told Rolling Stone that performing these songs wasn’t shameful. I even thought about paying a significant homage to John. However, after that, folks began to ask, “Why don’t you do “Imagine”?” “Fucking hell, Diana Ross does ‘Imagine,'” I thought to myself. Everybody does “Imagine.” That’s when I decided to back off completely.
That did not preclude him from honoring his friend in other capacities. To honor his friend, McCartney would occasionally rework songs from his typical touring repertoire. He would then conclude with his hit song “Give Peace a Chance.”
Even today’s McCartney hasn’t shied away from including a few Beatles surprises in the repertoire. While it’s true that there are timeless hits like “Hey Jude,” McCartney tended to include deeper cuts like John Lennon’s “Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” which caused him difficulties when attempting to play it in time.
McCartney has never sounded more appreciative of his old friend than in his song “Here Today,” regardless of how he chooses to honor him going forward. In three minutes, McCartney encapsulated a whole relationship’s worth of memories. It stands out among the thousands of tribute songs recorded throughout history. The spirit of Lennon often feels present, listening along with all of us.
