When it comes to talking about The Beatles’ back catalog, John Lennon has never been the most diplomatic. While some songs may have been better than others, Paul McCartney was usually the target of Lennon’s ire, especially in the latter half of their collaboration when McCartney appeared to be taking credit for the band’s dissolution. Despite all the criticism he leveled at his former bandmate for “granny music,” Lennon acknowledged that he felt taken aback when his partner wrote a single line from “A Day in the Life.”
You wouldn’t get Lennon to say too many kind things about Sgt Pepper, aside from the dramatic finale. When you consider it, McCartney is credited with half of the album. Lennon receives a few deep cuts and one classic, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”. While poor George Harrison only receives one song, “Within You Without You.”
Your bandmate insisting that your next album had to be a concept wouldn’t exactly thrill you either. Even though Lennon rose to the occasion with songs like “Good Morning, Good Morning” and “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” “A Day in the Life” is a far superior storyline about a fictional band.
This was Lennon’s greatest work to date, combining his love of poetry and avant-garde music into a pop song. Even though McCartney contributed some of the song’s greatest moments—such as the abrupt change from a burned-out man reading the newspaper to a wealthy socialite running late for work—it was still Lennon’s song.
How in the world are those verses connected when it sounds like they’re taking place on two different planets? Even though it’s not easy, McCartney accomplished the effect with just one line. “I’d love to turn you on“. He said just before the orchestra started to build, almost mimicking the existential whirlwind that occurs when high on acid.
Although McCartney had already laid the foundation for the song, Lennon acknowledged that this was one of the best parts he ever wrote. He stated in The Beatles Anthology that Paul had contributed the lovely little lick, “I’d love to turn you on,” to the song, which he had been unable to use. It was a very impressive piece of work, in my opinion.
At The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, McCartney also remembered the exact moment the line they wrote. He said, “I remember the little look we gave each other when we said, ‘I’d love to turn you on’. We were somewhat aware of our actions there. It was a surreptitious glance. The song feels like a postscript to what The Beatles were doing. Though it has nothing to do with the idea.”
The idea has already come to an end. But this imagines what The Summer of Love might turn out to be. The Beatles were the epitome of what pop music could sound like. However, you knew there were countless directions songs could go after hearing that one line.
