Much has been made about John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s legendary songwriting partnership. The pair is thought of as the Beatles‘ backbone—the well-oiled songwriting machine that shaped the foursome’s legacy. However, if you get into the songwriting credits for each Beatles song, you’ll find that the Lennon-McCartney partnership became little more than fuel for a legal battle post-breakup. Though they have many songs cataloged under both of their names, many weren’t actually collaborative projects. As their career as a band progressed, the duo wrote together less and less. With that in mind, how many songs did Lennon and McCartney really write together?
How Many Songs Did John Lennon and Paul McCartney Actually Write Together?
Co-writing is rarely a 50-50 effort. Often, a writer will come in with an idea and have another help them work out the kinks. However, Lennon and McCartney did have a couple of songs wherein they did shoulder equal weight in the writer’s room: “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
Outside of those two early Beatles hits, the rest of the 150-odd songs credited to Lennon and McCartney are less straightforward. Many of their songs were primarily written by one writer or the other, and some were sole compositions that were credited to both artists to keep the peace. All in all, there are about 65 songs from the Beatles’ catalog that can be attributed to both Lennon and McCartney without having to stretch the definition. Among that list are timeless Beatles hits like “And I Love Her,” “Day Tripper,” “A Day in the Life,” “Getting Better,” and “Hello, Goodbye.”
When Did Lennon and McCartney’s Legendary Partnership End?
So, if they were that prolific and that seasoned as songwriting partners, why did their partnership end–and more importantly, when did it end in the Beatles’ tenure?
Lennon and McCartney’s time as co-writers fizzled out. There wasn’t one moment that changed their relationship, but many small changes in behavior that moved them to write on their own.
One of the first moments that showed the cracks in their partnership was McCartney’s decision to pen “Can’t Buy Me Love” for A Hard Day’s Night solo. Lennon turned around and wrote several songs on his own for the feature film, highlighting a sense of rivalry. That rivalry grew as their careers progressed. McCartney continued to write massive hits, for example “Yesterday,” on his own. Lennon would then do his best to write songs that were equally as successful.
According to Lennon, their time as true partners ended at some point in the middle of their time in the Beatles. Lennon and McCartney’s strained partnership turned into more of a business transaction.
“If you give me the albums, I can tell you exactly who wrote what and which line,” Lennon once said. “We always wrote separately, but we wrote together because we enjoyed it a lot sometimes, and also because they would say, well, you’re going to make an album, get together and knock off a few songs, just like a job.”
The pair still made stunning songs together even after their tightly knit partnership ended. Imagine what we could have heard if they had managed to keep things as they were…