Looking back on his career, John Lennon mocked many of The Beatles’ well-known songs as awful “throwaway” garbage. Never one to hold back, Lennon critiqued his own works of art with a critical eye. That does, however, indicate that a sizeable portion of his output could be classified as “regrettable.” However, upon further thought, it appears that he only really regretted penning one song.
Before listening to that particular track, it’s better to concentrate on some of the other songs that John Lennon has criticized. Lennon quickly disregarded a significant portion of The Beatles’ discography in his well-known 1980 Playboy interview with David Sheff. He labelled “Let It Be” as having “nothing to do with The Beatles”. “When I’m Sixty Four” as grandmotherly music, and “Birthday” as “abysmal.” But Lennon’s ruthless cruelty didn’t end there. He even labelled “I Am The Walrus,” possibly his most genuine and iconic psychedelic song, as “not a great piece” and brandished a gun at it.
No mention appears of any song from The Beatles’ greatest efforts, including “Run for Your Life.” Even though some die-hard Beatles fans will argue that the song has the Americana and rock ‘n’ roll influences that the band would incorporate into most of their early work, John Lennon eventually came to dislike the lyrics as he grew older and wiser.
“Run for Your Life,” which John Lennon wrote most of without the assistance of his principal co-creator Paul McCartney, was the former Beatle’s least favourite Fab Four song, and the lyrics were primarily to blame for his hatred of it. “I always hated ‘Run for Your Life,’ you know,” John Lennon said to Rolling Stone in 1970, not long after the band had broken up and left millions sobbing and clinging to their pillows. “I never liked ‘Run For Your Life’ because it was a song I just knocked off”.
The majority of John Lennon’s distasteful Beatles songs seem to centre around this issue. Lennon, who preferred to carefully consider each aspect of the songwriting process, believed that throwing off tracks without much thought would permanently damage the credibility of those creations.
Regarding the Beatles song “Lovely Rita,” John Lennon once remarked, “I’m not interested in writing about people like that. I like to write about myself, because I know myself.” This statement holds true for almost everything he did with the group. Many of the band’s greatest hits, including “Help!” and “Strawberry Fields,” are based on the singer’s own experiences.
But it’s the lyrics that make “Run For Your Life” the least outstanding song in this especially amazing collection. Lennon went on to discuss his problems with the song, saying, “It was inspired from—this is a very vague connection—from ‘Baby Let’s Play House‘. It had a line that said, “I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man.” I wrote it around that because I liked it, but I didn’t think it was that significant.
“Baby Let’s Play House,” a song composed for Elvis Presley, served as the inspiration. “I Want To Play House With You,” an Eddie Arnold country and western hit from 1951, served as the original source of inspiration. Though the messages in those songs are straightforward and simple, Lennon twisted these ideals to create a frightening image. It’s not entirely detached from reality. This is a major factor in why it’s uncomfortable to listen to Lennon portrayed as an abuser.
After Lennon met Yoko Ono in 1968, he filed for divorce from Cynthia Powell. They had spent six years in marriage prior to their separation. Powell later disclosed a violent incident involving the Beatle. She said, “He saw me dancing with his best friend Stuart, my best friend Stuart.” That was the moment when he turned red.
Powell continued, “But it wasn’t until the following day and he’d been thinking about it all night and he caught me outside the ladies loos in the college basement, and just smacked me one.” Powell went on to describe the traumatic incident. And he simply walked off as I struck my head on the back of the pipes.
“Run For Your Life” is a sombre reminder of the singer’s violent past. Unavoidable controversy taints it because of John Lennon’s past. Still, it made it onto the band’s Rubber Soul album in spite of how uncomfortable it was.
As usual, McCartney, a friend and co-creator of Lennon, offers perhaps the most insightful analysis of the song. It was in Many Years From Now that he told Barry Miles, “John was always on the run, running for his life.” “While none of my songs would have ‘catch you with another man,’ he was married. I never gave it any thought because I was in a completely open relationship with my girlfriend and would go out with other girls. So, I wasn’t as concerned as John was. A somewhat macho tune.
If given another chance, Lennon might reconsider releasing “Run For Your Life” to the public and might prefer it not included in The Beatles’ back catalogue. Still, the song is a historical record. It is especially unsettling to hear because of the startling bit of reality it exposes.
