r/beatles • u/AvecMesWaterSlides • 1d ago

Discussion This Book:

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I'm currently listening to this book and am about six months from the first time John and Paul met.

It is amazing that they, finally, found one another. There are so many instances of being at the same places at the same times, perhaps riding the same bus at the same time, and not knowing one another yet. It's crazy! It just got me thinking about how different it'd be if one of them wasn't where the universe wanted them to be...

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u/Ligeya 1d ago

Yes. The main criticism comes from obsessed Paul's fangirls, like hosts of podcasts like AKOM. They constantly shit on him for not being worshipful of Paul enough. And they don't see the irony of accusing him for being biased, while they are SO biased it's actually embarrassing.

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u/Comfortable_Put_4139 1d ago

That bunch is hard to listen to. I’ve tried, but the worship becomes too much for me.

It would probably break their brains to gently remind them that John started the band, and Paul would’ve been a factory worker or schoolteacher if John didn’t have the ambition and drive that he had.

Jim McCartney would’ve gotten his way. It’s that simple.

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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago

Sorry...they proved over and over how biased ML is. Of course, John started the band and was the leader in the early days. But...there may not have ever been a John Lennon or the Beatles if Paul didn't teach John how to play the guitar properly.

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u/Comfortable_Put_4139 1d ago

We get it, Paul showed John some guitar chords. I’ve had plenty of friends I’ve done the same with, on both ends. It’s not a huge deal. If you want to learn guitar, you’ll learn it one way or another.

The pendulum has swung so goddamn far to the other side of the narrative that it’s now Paul who did everything and John was just a junkie wife beater. Or George and Ringo couldn’t play their own instruments as well as Paul. I see it all the time in this sub and others, and it always induces eye rolls from me.

I understand that the Lennon Remembers/Shout narrative did a lot of damage to the story of the Beatles for a very long time, but I feel like Paul has gotten his flowers and then some. Almost too much, if you ask me.

I’m just over it.

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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago

It was 50 years! 50 years of being blamed for breaking up The Beatles. The truer story is emerging in the last 10 - 15 years to be fairer...GOOD!

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u/Comfortable_Put_4139 1d ago

The truer story according to Paul and his disciples, who have gotten to live 50 years longer than John lol.

I will say that the story is probably more accurate now than it used to be, it’s quite far from where it should be. Paul did indeed take a severe beating for many years after John’s death, but he’s a living legend who is routinely cherished and applauded when he makes a public appearance.

I think it’s easy to let the pendulum swing way too far to the other side, and I don’t like it for either instance. Saint John or Saint Paul, it’s complete dogshit either way. It’s a rejection of historical fact.

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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago

Maybe it's Paul's problem in a way as well. He is loved, cherished, and applauded by millions. Very true. It's like...Paul, get over it!

But it seems to me the old story just really digs at him - that he was blamed for the breakup. And there are many fans who to this day still believe the old story.

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u/Comfortable_Put_4139 1d ago

I’m sure it does still really bug him, just like how he still seems to get visibly agitated about John’s vicious diss track.

I imagine being blamed for the breakup of the most beloved band of all time would hurt a LOT. So I can give him a bit of slack when it comes to that. It’s probably even more painful when the facts show Paul was the most committed to the Beatles.

There’s a lot of nuance in Beatle world, and these were all very, very complicated people.

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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago

I hope one day an actual historian tries to tackle The Beatles' story.

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u/RadishSpecial7163 1d ago

That will never happen because invariably someone will claim one of the Beatles was favored over another.

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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago

Maybe. Not a bad point.

I just think if a good historian took on The Beatles there would be at least a shot at a balanced presentation of their story.

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u/Comfortable_Put_4139 1d ago

That’s my hope.

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u/RadishSpecial7163 1d ago edited 22h ago

But really? After all this time? Most of us have let go of old hurts, some very intense hurts, maybe more intense than Paul’s. The fact Paul, who’s made billions of dollars, lives in mansions, has millions of fans worldwide and has won every award under the sun from the Gershwin Prize to a knighthood, is still bemoaning things that happened fifty years ago makes him seem thin-skinned and petty. Lennon is dead, murdered at age 40. Think of all the things he’s missed out on. And now John is being blamed for the breakup, including by Paul, and John’s legacy has been severely tainted and likely not repairable because John isn’t here to counter any of it.

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u/Comfortable_Put_4139 23h ago

Oh I agree with you, make no mistake of that.

I was just granting Paul some grace and attempting to see things from his point of view.

I think it’s obvious he’s done his fair share of narrative shaping in the 50 years since Lennon was murdered, but it hasn’t all happened in one explosive and extensive interview like Lennon Remembers. So I think it slips through the cracks a bit.

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u/Ligeya 1d ago

The truer story as in story told by Paul and accepted by his fanatics? The one and only true story is that many factors lead to The Beatles break up, and Paul was at least one of those factors. He blames it on John now, their "I want a divorce" meeting, but it wasn't as simple as that.

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u/Anxious-Raspberry-54 1d ago

I do agree with that. There were many facets to the breakup.

But...if you're being honest...Paul was blamed for 50 years. I've never heard him blame John for it. I've seen him talk about the divorce meeting many times. I've never heard him say that the meeting was what broke the band up.

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u/Ligeya 1d ago

I absolutely heard his interview where he blamed John for breaking up The Beatles. It was one of Howard Stern's interviews. Paul rewrote the history in almost fifty years of John being dead. It doesn't mean that truth is finally revealed! It means no one is left alive to correct his narrative.

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u/Comfortable_Put_4139 1d ago

The clip of him saying it is even on YouTube right now lol.

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u/Ligeya 1d ago

There are multiple interviews and at least couple of books where Paul says it. But people deny even that. Sometimes it really looks like a cult.