The Paul McCartney Song He Called a ‘Diss Track’ Aimed at John Lennon
When The Beatles broke up in 1970, a feud began between Paul McCartney and John Lennon. While the two were able to reconcile before Lennon’s death in 1980, McCartney and Lennon made their feelings known toward each other in their music. Mccartney says one of his songs following the breakup was a “diss track” aimed at Lennon.
The Beatles broke up in 1970 following a feud within the band
While The Beatles split in 1970, the early stages of the separation began in 1969. In an interview with BBC, the guitarist and singer recalled the band having a meeting where John Lennon showed up with Yoko Ono and manager Allen Klein. McCartney said that’s when Lennon announced his intentions to leave the band, and McCartney wasn’t a fan of Klein’s involvement moving forward.
“The whole story, in a nutshell, is we were having a meeting in 1969, and John showed up and said he’d met this guy Allen Klein, who promised Yoko an exhibition is Syracuse, and then the matter of fact, John told us he was leaving the band,” McCartney explained. “It is basically how it happened. It was three to one because the other two went with John, so it was looking like Allen Klein was gonna own our entire Beatle empire. I was not too keen on that idea.”
There were other factors involved in the breakup, including McCartney’s plans to move forward with a solo career, but this was when the band began to go in different directions.
Paul McCartney revealed ‘Too Many People’ was a diss track meant for John Lennon
Shortly after The Beatles’ breakup, Lennon came out with a song called “God,” which included several overt jabs at The Beatles and McCartney. McCartney wasn’t sure how to respond but decided to do it n a song. The “Live and Let Die” singer told BBC that he wrote “Too Many People” as a “diss track” towards Lennon, but he tried to make the lyrics vaguer.
“This song was written a year or so after The Beatles’ breakup. At a time when John ws firing missiles at me with his songs, and one or two fo them were quite cruel. I don’t know what he hoped to gain, other than punching me in the face. The whole thing really annoyed me. I decided to turn my missiles on him too, but I’m not really that kind of writer so it was quite veiled. It was the 1970s equivalent of what we might today call a diss track. The idea of too many people preaching practices. It was definitely aimed at John, telling everyone what to do. I just got fed up with being told what to do.”
McCartney was asking Lennon for peace
Through his lyrical breakdown, Paul McCartney said he found the whole thing ridiculous and was asking John Lennon for peace. The lines “That was your first mistake/ You took your lucky break and broke it in two/ Now what can be done for you?” was McCartney telling Lennon that he did what he wanted and it was time for them to be sensible.
“[That] was me saying basically, ‘You’ve made this break, so good luck with it.’ But it was pretty mild,” McCartney said (per Americansongwriter.com). “It was all a bit weird and a bit nasty, and I was basically saying, ‘Let’s be sensible. We had a lot going for us in the Beatles, and what actually split us up is the business stuff, and that’s pretty pathetic really, so let’s try and be peaceful. Let’s maybe give peace a chance.’”
