While most of the material that The Beatles ever wrote as a group would be able to hold its own when pitted against their contemporaries, the four members weren’t always kind when it came to sharing their views on what the others contributed to the band.
Paul McCartney probably received the most flak for writing twee nonsense, mostly from John Lennon, who was presumably displeased with the fact that he was forced to share a writing credit with the bassist on tracks like ‘Honey Pie’ and ‘When I’m Sixty-Four’. However, you can’t take away from the fact that he was capable of writing some of the band’s best works, with gentle ballads like ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ and ‘For No One’ and roaring rockers like ‘Helter Skelter’ among his greatest writing credits.
George Harrison wrote considerably less for the band than McCartney and Lennon did, but always managed to excel on the rare occasion that he did contribute to records. On Abbey Road alone, he can claim to have contributed ‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes the Sun’, but even outside of this, there’s merit to tracks like ‘Savoy Truffle’ despite the stiff competition that surrounded it in the record’s tracklist.
Ringo Starr was the least prolific songwriter in the band, having only written two songs from the comfort of his drum stool. Very few people will claim that ‘Don’t Pass Me By’ or ‘Octopus’s Garden’ are among their favourites by the group, but for someone with limited experience of playing an instrument which is commonly used for composition, they’re not bad efforts – they’re just not up there with the best.
But what did the rest of the Beatles think of Lennon’s work, and did he believe that he wrote some of their finest songs above the contributions of his bandmates? Over the years, the members have expressed their love for Lennon’s songwriting abilities, and plenty of his tunes rank among the personal favourites of each member when listing the best Beatles songs.
While McCartney and Harrison both displayed versatility, not just in their styles and approaches to genre, but also in their ability to write songs from different perspectives and that explored different themes, Lennon was arguably the greatest of the trio when it came to defying expectations. There are numerous instances of him having contributed delicate acoustic tracks with heartfelt lyrics, but at the same time, there are psychedelic masterpieces which have mind-bendingly surreal wordplay strewn across them.
At the same time, his ear for a pop hook couldn’t be denied, and some of the band’s most enduring hits came courtesy of Lennon’s mind. While they’ve all been asked on separate occasions to pick their favourite songs that Lennon ever conjured up during the band’s lifespan, some came up with the same responses, while others were more unique in their selections.
The most widely-accepted masterpiece of Lennon’s is ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’, which Harrison, McCartney and Lennon himself all regard as being one of his best songs, while some more obscure early cuts like ‘Rain’ and ‘This Boy’ get nods from other members. ‘Across the Universe’ also proves popular, as does ‘In My Life’, but judging by the full list of songs that the members have proclaimed to be among Lennon’s best, it’s evident that the group were fully behind a variety of his works, whether simple and effective, or labyrinthine and complex.
John Lennon’s best songs for The Beatles:
*‘Help’ (chosen by John)
*‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ (chosen by John, Paul and George)
*‘I Want To Hold Your Hand’ (chosen by John)
*‘I Am The Walrus’ (chosen by John)
*‘Girl’ (chosen by John)
*‘Across The Universe’ (chosen by John and Paul)
*‘In My Life’ (chosen by John and George)
*‘You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)’ (chosen by Paul)
*‘Julia’ (chosen by Paul)
*‘From Me To You’ (chosen by Paul)
*‘This Boy’ (chosen by Paul and George)
*‘And Your Bird Can Sing’ (chosen by Paul)
*‘Rain’ (chosen by Paul and Ringo)
*‘A Day in the Life’ (chosen by Paul)
*‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun’ (chosen by Paul)
**‘Every Little Thing’ (chosen by George)
*‘Because’ (chosen by George)
*‘Norwegian Wood (This Bird has Flown)’ (chosen by George)
*‘I Want You (She’s So Heavy)’ (chosen by George)