Who was better - Lennon or McCartney? Alex Kapranos
The Guardian, Wednesday 12 October 2005
Ono slams McCartney. How dreary. I don't mean the comments by Yoko Ono at the Q awards on Monday night, but the way that they have been pounced upon, like discarded kebab wrappers, by the dogs of cheap controversy. There's no meat, but the smell has provoked frothing and yelping. The most shockingly revelatory words Ono said were, "John was very human. In the middle of the night he would say, 'They always cover Paul's songs, they never cover mine'." Wow. John Lennon: the magnificent, seemingly invincible, beautifully arrogant, terrifyingly talented, joint-greatest songwriter of the 20th century was human.
Like the rest of us, he kept himself awake at night with angst-ridden moments of self-doubt. It is one of the most life-affirming statements I have heard for years. If he felt that way, then why should any of the rest of us worry about feeling that way too?
As Ono went on, "I said to him, 'Well you know, you're a good songwriter, but it's not just moon-June-or-spoon songs that you write. You're a good singer and most musicians are probably a little bit nervous about covering your songs,' before going off to make him a cup of tea." Well, the "June-spoon-moon" stuff is irrelevant. They are the words of a lover consoling the human being most precious to them. It was Ono telling the husband she adored that it didn't matter if people didn't want to cover his songs as much as McCartney's, as his work had such phenomenal worth.
The irony is that, while Yoko was whispering soothingly in John's troubled ear, Linda was probably whispering into Paul's, telling him that it didn't matter that some of those critics considered Lennon's work to have a greater artistic merit. It didn't matter because his work had such phenomenal worth. It's true that Two Virgins was considered unlistenable by some people, and that Ob-la-di Ob-la-da was considered to be childish by others, but it's irrelevant. Both songwriters had flaws which tempered their overwhelming talent.
When I received a text message telling me about the "Latest Great Lennon-McCartney Debate", I was watching A Hard Day's Night on DVD with our bassist, Bob Hardy. Apart from the obvious conclusion that Ringo Starr was always the coolest Beatle, we were simply in awe of those amazing songs and the charismatic figures that changed pop music in a way that nobody else ever could. We weren't arguing about whether Can't Buy Me Love or A Hard Day's Night were better songs. McCartney probably wrote the former and Lennon probably wrote the latter, but who cares? What made the Beatles greater than any other group was their unique dynamic. You don't listen for one member or another, but for the combination.
The idea that these supposedly inflammatory comments are reigniting some form of Lennon-McCartney rivalry is perverse. It is rooted in the mistaken presumption that any rivalry between the two appeared when Ono came on the scene. It was always there. It's what they thrived upon; simple competition, trying to outdo each other with better songs. Like the best of group dynamics, theirs was based upon a sweet combination of collaboration and jealousy. There is no debate. Lennon and McCartney (or McCartney and Lennon, if you prefer) were the greatest songwriters of the 20th century. Ringo was the coolest Beatle. John Lennon was human like the rest of us. The end.
· Alex Kapranos is the lead singer with Franz Ferdinand Hadley Freeman
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А если серьёзно, то всё это очень очень грустно.
