Paul McCartney Said The Beatles’ ‘Help!’ Was a Real ‘Cry For Help’ From John Lennon
The Beatles made tons of hit songs while they were together, and one of their most beloved singles is the 1965 track “Help!” While most fans think of the song as upbeat and fun, Paul McCartney revealed that “Help!” meant something much darker to bandmate John Lennon.
The Beatles’ massive success
McCartney and Lennon, along with bandmates George Harrison and Ringo Starr, made up the Beatles, a rock group that took the world by storm during the 1960s. The group released hits like “Love Me Do,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” and “A Hard Day’s Night.”
By the time they released “Help!,” the lead single off their album of the same name, the Beatles were rich and famous. However, all that success came at a price. McCartney opened up about some of Lennon’s insecurities and how those troubles manifested in his music.
Paul McCartney says ‘Help!’ was ‘a real cry for help’ from John Lennon
“I remember sitting down and writing [“Help!”] with John,” McCartney recalled during an interview on The Howard Stern Show. He mentioned that Lennon was the one who brought in the majority of the lyrics, including the line, “When I was younger, so much younger.”
McCartney shared that, after hearing his bandmate’s lyrics, he realized Lennon was writing a song about “insecurity.” The bass player said he brushed it off at the time, concentrating on the fact that the pair had written a “great” song.
“It was only later when I thought, ‘Wow … that was a real cry for help,’” McCartney explained. At the time of the song’s creation, Lennon was struggling with the band’s meteoric rise to fame.
“I was fat and depressed, and I was crying out for ‘Help!,’” Lennon said in a 1980 Playboy interview, according to Far Out Magazine. Despite the fact that “Help!” was about a time when Lennon was feeling depressed, he counted it as one of his favorite songs the Beatles ever wrote, Rolling Stone reports.
However, he did later express regret that the Beatles recorded the song at such a fast tempo, feeling that they undercut the emotions of the lyrics in an effort to make the song more commercial, according to the book Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 1.
The song went to No. 1 on both the UK and US charts, making it the fourth of six number one singles the band had throughout 1964 and 1965. “Help!” was nominated for Contemporary Rock & Roll Group Vocal Performance and Vocal Group Performance at the 1966 Grammy Awards.
Paul McCartney said John Lennon was ‘worried’ about his legacy
McCartney also shared that he could “sympathize” with Lennon’s insecurities and would often help his friend work through these vulnerable moments.
The rocker recalled one moment when Lennon asked him, “What am I going to be thought of after I’ve died? What [were] people going to think about me?” McCartney said Lennon was very “worried” about his legacy.
“I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’” McCartney shared. “‘Man, you’re a legend already, never mind when you die,’ and I had to reassure him.” Lennon’s death would tragically come all too soon. The musician was shot and killed on December 8, 1980, by Mark David Chapman.
