• Re: Was "Oh, Darling" Written For John?

    From Geoff@geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org to rec.music.beatles on Tue Jul 1 10:38:18 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.beatles

    On 30/06/2025 9:27 pm, Norbert wrote:
    Those quotes are from John's Playboy interview.-a Lennon's criticisms of Paul's vocal on "Oh! Darling" are strange.-a He says that Paul didn't
    perform the vocal too well an that he (John) could have done it better. Perhaps as a younger man John could have rivalled Paul's performance,
    but there is no way he could approached it in hi post-acid phase.-a John
    had lost the power in his singing.-a Yes, there's screaming on Plastic
    Ono Band, but he sounds more pathetic than compelling.

    I imagine John doing the intense bit would have been painfully
    ear-shredding, rather than gutsy.
    --
    geoff
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  • From super70s@super70s@super70s.invalid to rec.music.beatles on Tue Jun 24 07:01:49 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.beatles

    On 2025-06-24 11:39:50 +0000, Norbert said:

    I had always accepted the default interpretation of "Oh, Darling," i.e.,
    that it is sung to a woman friend Paul feared was on the brink of
    leaving him. In fact, he was in a stable relationship with Linda at the time. There's an argument making the rounds that the song is actually
    about McCartney's awareness that his *creative partnership" with John
    was coming to an end. I was skeptical at first; now I am inclined to
    accept this alternate take on the song.

    In one of the verses, McCartney appears to start with "Oh, Johnnie."
    Anyone else hear this?

    Whoever it's about it sucks IMO, simplistic repetitive lyrics and
    melody and he sings like he's "chewing the scenery" to borrow an acting
    idiom. Definitely one of my 5 least favorite Beatles songs.

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  • From Geoff@geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org to rec.music.beatles on Wed Jun 25 09:40:03 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.beatles

    On 25/06/2025 12:01 am, super70s wrote:
    On 2025-06-24 11:39:50 +0000, Norbert said:

    I had always accepted the default interpretation of "Oh, Darling," i.e.,
    that it is sung to a woman friend Paul feared was on the brink of
    leaving him.-a In fact, he was in a stable relationship with Linda at the
    time.-a There's an argument making the rounds that the song is actually
    about McCartney's awareness that his *creative partnership" with John
    was coming to an end.-a I was skeptical at first; now I am inclined to
    accept this alternate take on the song.

    In one of the verses, McCartney appears to start with "Oh, Johnnie."
    Anyone else hear this?

    Whoever it's about it sucks IMO, simplistic repetitive lyrics and melody
    and he sings like he's "chewing the scenery" to borrow an acting idiom. Definitely one of my 5 least favorite Beatles songs.


    Really ?!!! One of my faves.
    --
    geoff
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  • From Geoff@geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org to rec.music.beatles on Wed Jun 25 09:48:31 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.beatles

    On 24/06/2025 11:39 pm, Norbert wrote:
    .

    In one of the verses, McCartney appears to start with "Oh, Johnnie."
    Anyone else hear this?

    As hard as I try, I just cannot hear that. What verse/time ?

    Agree about the 'target' of the song though. As, in the other direction,
    must have been 'Jealous Guy, despite various denials .
    --
    geoff
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  • From Geoff@geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org to rec.music.beatles on Wed Jun 25 15:50:41 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.beatles

    On 25/06/2025 9:48 am, Geoff wrote:
    On 24/06/2025 11:39 pm, Norbert wrote:
    .

    In one of the verses, McCartney appears to start with "Oh, Johnnie."
    Anyone else hear this?

    As hard as I try, I just cannot hear that. What verse/time ?

    Agree about the 'target' of the song though. As, in the other direction, must have been 'Jealous Guy, despite various denials .


    Posted by a 'Ron' on Quora.

    __________________________________________________________________

    "Behind the Beat": A Behavioral Study of the Beatles Mar 28
    For rCyAbbey Road' fansrCa (and John Lennon fans in particular).

    Based on a lot of research into Lennon's development from adolescence to 1980rCoincluding his reflective commentary, archival interviews, and
    critical discussions about The BeatlesrCowe can derive a nuanced
    understanding of his psychological and interpersonal persona, even
    without his verbatim statements on specific compositions.

    Never mentioned, but according to George, there was a feeling that the rCyAbbey RoadrCO sessions would be the grouprCOs last. The "medley" is comprised of bits of songs Paul and John hadnrCOt used elsewhere. During recording, it was dubbed "The Long One" when Paul and George Martin
    blended the suite.

    John opposed this format, preferring a return to album formats like
    rCySgt. Pepper, a possible reason John was sour on side two.

    Lennon appreciated the songs on side one for their completeness,
    enjoying the standalone nature of rCyHere Comes the SunrCO and rCyBecause.rCO He
    reportedly dismissed the medley as "junk... just bits of songs thrown together" (by the McCartney/Martin collaboration). Many things could
    have come together (no pun intended) to create a rCLfeelrCY for rCLAbbey Road,rCY and JohnrCOs feelings towards the album mightrCOve soured.

    He called side two a rCLproduction gimmick.rCY ItrCOs possible, too, that John felt his talents werenrCOt represented well on the medley. For instance,
    John liked his rCLPolythene PamrCY tune, but felt it was lost in that
    medley. The same is true for rCLHere Comes The Sun King.rCY

    The McCartney/Martin collaboration for the medley mightrCOve made John
    feel he was being replaced. Not out of the question is a feeling of
    jealousy, John and Paul

    John was, in part, quick to trash the medley because Paul and George
    Martin created the suite. I believe John was so self-critical and
    insecure (yet convinced of his genius), herCOd preemptively denigrate his songwriting, anticipating and justifying McCartney's perceived superiority.

    rCyCome TogetherrCO
    JOHN: rCLItrCOs gobbledygook rCo rCyCome TogetherrCO was an expression that Tim
    Leary had come up with for his attempt at being president or whatever he wanted to be, and he asked me to write a campaign song. I tried and I
    tried, but I couldnrCOt come up with one. But I came up with this, rCyCome Together,rCO which wouldrCOve been no good to himrCo you couldnrCOt have a campaign song like that, right? Leary attacked me years later, saying I
    ripped him off. I didnrCOt rip him off. ItrCOs just that it turned into rCyCome Together.rCO What am I going to do, give it to him? It was a funky record rCo itrCOs one of my favorite Beatle tracks, or, one of my favorite Lennon tracks, letrCOs say that. ItrCOs funky, itrCOs bluesy, and IrCOm singing
    it pretty well. I like the sound of the record. You can dance to it.
    IrCOll buy it! (laughs).rCY

    rCySomethingrCO
    JOHN: rCLI think thatrCOs about the best track on the album, actually.rCY

    rCyMaxwellrCOs Silver Hammer' (They all hated it, Paul loved it.)
    JOHN: rCLI hated it. All I remember is the track rCo he made us do it a hundred million times. He did everything to make it into a single and it
    never was and it never couldrCOve been. But [Paul] put guitar licks on it
    and he had somebody hitting iron pieces and we spent more money on that
    song than any of them in the whole album.rCY

    rCyOh! DarlingrCO
    JOHN: rCLOh! DarlingrCO was a great one of PaulrCOs that he didnrCOt sing too well. I always thought I could have done it better rCo it was more my
    style than his. He wrote it, so what the hell, herCOs going to sing it.rCY

    rCyI Want You (SherCOs So Heavy)rCO
    JOHN: rCLSimplicity is evident in rCyShe So Heavy.rCOrCY A reviewer wrote: rCyHe
    seems to have lost his talent for lyrics, itrCOs so simple and boring.rCO John, rCLWhen it gets down to itrCo when yourCOre drowning, you donrCOt say rCyI
    would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to
    notice me drowning and come and help me,rCO you just scream.rCY

    rCyHere Comes The SunrCO
    JOHN: rCLIt reminds me of Buddy Holly, in a way. This song is just the way herCOs progressing, you know. HerCOs writing all kinds of songs and once the door opens, the floodgates open.rCY

    rCyBecauserCO
    JOHN: (songwriter): rCLI was lying on the sofa in our house, listening to
    Yoko play BeethovenrCOs rCyMoonlight SonatarCO on the piano. Suddenly, I said, rCyCan you play those chords backward?rCO She did, and I wrote rCyBecauserCO around them. The song sounds like rCyMoonlight Sonata,rCO too. The lyrics
    are clear, no bullshit, no imagery, no obscure references.rCY

    rCyYou Never Give Me Your MoneyrCO
    JOHN: rCLThatrCOs Paul. Well, thatrCOs not a song, you know. Abbey Road was really unfinished songs all stuck together. Everybody praises the album
    so much, but none of the songs had anything to do with each other, no
    thread at all, only the fact that we stuck them together.rCY

    rCySun KingrCO
    JOHN: (songwriter): rCLThatrCOs a piece of garbage I had around. We just started joking, you know, singing `quando para mucho.-| So we just made
    uprCa Paul knew a few Spanish words from school, you know. So we just
    strung any Spanish words that sounded vaguely like something. And of
    course we got `chicka ferdy-| in. That-|s a Liverpool expression. Just
    like sort ofrCo it doesn-|t mean anything to me but (childish taunting) `na-na, na-na-na!-| `Cake and eat it-| is another nice line too, because
    they have that in SpanishrCo rCyQuerCO or something can eat it. One we missedrCo
    we could have had rCypara noya,rCO but we forgot all about it.rCY

    rCyMean Mr. MustardrCO
    JOHN: rCLIn rCyMean Mr MustardrCO I said rCyhis sister PamrCO rCo originally it was
    rCyhis sister ShirleyrCO in the lyric. I changed it to Pam to make it sound like it had something to do with it [rCyPolythene PamrCO]. They are only finished bits of crap that I wrote in India.rCY

    rCyPolythene PamrCO
    JOHN: (songwriter): rCLThat was me, remembering a little event with a
    woman in Jersey, and a man who was EnglandrCOs answer to Allen Ginsberg,
    who gave us our first exposurerCa I met him when we were on tour and he
    took me back to his apartment, and I had a girl and he had one he wanted
    me to meet. He said she dressed up in polythene, which she did. She
    didnrCOt wear jackboots, and kilts, I just sort of elaborated. Perverted
    sex in a polythene bagrCo Just looking for something to write about.rCY

    rCyShe Came In Through the Bathroom WindowrCO
    JOHN: rCLHe wrote that when we were in New York announcing Apple and we
    first met Linda. Maybe sherCOs the one that came in the window.rCY

    rCyGolden SlumbersrCO
    JOHN: rCLThatrCOs Paul, apparently from a poem he found in a book, some eighteenth-century book where he just changed the words here and there.
    Paul layered the strings on after we finished most of the basic track. I personally canrCOt be bothered with strings and things, you know. I like
    to do it with the group or with electronics. And especially going
    through that hassle with musicians and all that bit, you know, itrCOs such
    a drag trying to get them together. But Paul digs that, so thatrCOs his
    scene. It was up to him where he went with violins and what he did with
    them. And I think he just wanted a straight kind of backing, you know.
    Nothing freaky.rCY

    rCyCarry That WeightrCO
    JOHN: rCLThatrCOs Paul. Apparently, he was under strain at that period. HerCOs singing about all of us.rCY

    rCyThe EndrCO
    JOHN: rCLThatrCOs Paul again, the unfinished song, right? WerCOre on Abbey Road. Just a piece at the end. He had a line in it [sings] rCyAnd in the
    end, the love you get is equal to the love you give [sic],rCO which is a
    very cosmic, philosophical line. Which again proves that if he wants to,
    he can think.rCY

    rCyHer MajestyrCO
    JOHN: rCLWe always have tons of bits and pieces lying around. IrCOve got
    stuff I wrote around Pepper, because you lose interest after yourCOve had
    it for years. It was a good way of getting rid of bits of songs. In
    fact, George and Ringo wrote bits of itrCa literally in between bits and breaks. Paul would say, rCyWerCOve got twelve bars hererCo fill it in,rCO and werCOd fill it in on the spot. As far as werCOre concerned, this album is
    more rCyBeatleyrCO than the double (White) album.rCY
    --
    geoff
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  • From Nil@rednoise9@rednoise9.invalid to rec.music.beatles on Thu Jun 26 00:15:31 2025
    From Newsgroup: rec.music.beatles

    On 24 Jun 2025, Geoff <geoff@nospamgeoffwood.org> wrote in
    rec.music.beatles:

    On 25/06/2025 12:01 am, super70s wrote:
    On 2025-06-24 11:39:50 +0000, Norbert said:

    I had always accepted the default interpretation of "Oh,
    Darling," i.e., that it is sung to a woman friend Paul feared
    was on the brink of leaving him.-a In fact, he was in a stable
    relationship with Linda at the time.-a There's an argument
    making the rounds that the song is actually about McCartney's
    awareness that his *creative partnership" with John was coming
    to an end.-a I was skeptical at first; now I am inclined to
    accept this alternate take on the song.

    In one of the verses, McCartney appears to start with "Oh,
    Johnnie." Anyone else hear this?

    Whoever it's about it sucks IMO, simplistic repetitive lyrics and
    melody and he sings like he's "chewing the scenery" to borrow an
    acting idiom. Definitely one of my 5 least favorite Beatles
    songs.


    Really ?!!! One of my faves.

    Mine, too! Tremendous vocal performance.
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