It’s no secret that John Lennon was a talented songwriter, with a career spanning decades that changed the trajectory of modern music.
The musician, together with his bandmate Paul McCartney, penned dozens of songs which have since become classics – but that isn’t to say they didn’t have regrets.
In fact, there was one early The Beatles track that Lennon was so ’embarrassed’ of that he once confessed he wished he had never written it at all.
Lennon said the hit, written for The Beatles’ 1965 release ‘Help!’, had ‘disgusting lyrics’, which he was ‘so ashamed of’ he could ‘barely sing them’.
The song in question is, perhaps surprisingly, ‘It’s Only Love’.
It was written by both Lennon and McCartney – an underrated track detailing a romantic relationship, with simple lyrics and an undeniably catchy chorus.
‘It’s only love, and that is all, but it’s so hard loving you,’ the lyrics say.
But Lennon harboured a hatred for the song – which had the working title ‘That’s A Nice Hat’ – once telling Hit Parader magazine: ‘That’s the one song I really hate of mine. Terrible lyrics.’
It’s no secret that John Lennon (above) was a talented songwriter, with a career spanning decades that changed the trajectory of modern music
The musician, together with his bandmate Paul McCartney (above together), penned dozens of songs which have since become classics – but that isn’t to say they didn’t have regrets
He has also described ‘It’s Only Love’ as ‘the most embarrassing song I ever wrote’.
Lennon explained: ‘Everything rhymed. Disgusting lyrics. Even then, I was so ashamed of the lyrics, I could hardly sing them.
‘That was one song I really wished I’d never written.’
But his co-writer McCartney was more forgiving of the track, which appeared on the second half of Help! – a studio album that accompanied a film of the same name.
He said: ‘Sometimes we didn’t fight it if the lyric came out rather bland on some of those filler songs like “It’s Only Love”.
‘If a lyric was really bad we’d edit it, but we weren’t that fussy about it, because it’s only a rock ‘n’ roll song. I mean, this is not literature.’
Though McCartney describes the song as a filler, its important to consider the context in which it was written – the height of so-called ‘Beatlemania’ in the 1960s.
Help! accompanied a film of the same name, and was the last of five albums The Beatles had released in just two years.
There was one early The Beatles track that Lennon was so ’embarrassed’ of that he once confessed he wished he had never written it at all
‘It’s Only Love’ was written by both Lennon and McCartney – an underrated track detailing a romantic relationship, with simple lyrics and an undeniably catchy chorus
They kicked off in March 1963 with Please Please Me, followed up in November by With The Beatles. The much-acclaimed A Hard Day’s Night came in 1964, as did Beatles For Sale.
It was in 1965 that the band released Help!, before sharing a sixth album Rubber Soul just four months later.
With the scale of songwriting considered – and the fact Lennon was in his early 20s and at the very start of his career – it isn’t surprising that he has identified a ‘weakness’.
It is also the case that the track is representative of the band at the time – a group of young men who wanted to write fun rock ‘n’ roll songs to get people dancing.
Lennon harboured a hatred for the song – which had the working title ‘That’s A Nice Hat’ – once telling Hit Parader magazine: ‘That’s the one song I really hate of mine. Terrible lyrics’
He has also described ‘It’s Only Love’ as ‘the most embarrassing song I ever wrote’
Lennon explained: ‘Everything rhymed. Disgusting lyrics. Even then, I was so ashamed of the lyrics, I could hardly sing them’
As they grew older and more practiced, their artistry grew with bold concept albums – like Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released in 1967.
That being said, ‘It’s Only Love’ isn’t disliked among fans, with many writing on social media that it was ‘one of the best songs’ Lennon ever wrote.
One person said: ‘For 99% of bands, this would be their ultimate masterpiece, for The Beatles, it’s an underrated gem.’
Another explained: ‘John’s voice is just so raw and emotional with this track. One of the best songs John ever wrote.’
His co-writer McCartney was more forgiving of the track, which appeared on the second half of Help! – a studio album that accompanied a film of the same name
‘It’s Only Love’ isn’t disliked among fans, with many writing on social media that it was ‘one of the best songs’ Lennon ever wrote
One person said: ‘For 99% of bands, this would be their ultimate masterpiece, for The Beatles, it’s an underrated gem’
‘It’s Only Love’ was recorded in June 1965, and took only six takes to get right
A third said: ‘I don’t care what John thought, this was a great song.’
‘This song is so under-rated. Even John hated it. I love it,’ added another fan.
‘It’s Only Love’ was recorded in June 1965, and took only six takes to get right.
Lennon decided to double-track his vocals on the sixth take, and five guitars were recorded to complete the two-minute track: three electric guitars, two acoustic, and George Harrison’s 12-string Rickenbacker.
Another explained: ‘John’s voice is just so raw and emotional with this track. One of the best songs John ever wrote’
