Music

The Beatles: Paul McCartney Felt This Song Was Truly Original But Not Everyone Agreed

Paul McCartney wanted to avoid formulaic songwriting. He felt The Beatles' "From Me to You" was very original. Paul's father, James McCartney, convinced The Beatles that the song was good. "From Me to You" was not a huge hit in the United States, but it was a huge hit in the United Kingdom.

by Matthew Trzcinski

Published on September 3, 2021

2 min read

The Beatles’ Paul McCartney discussed trying to find a new way to write songs

During an interview with NPR, Paul discussed how his songwriting evolved. “What happens is you listen to the old songs — and you’re brought up with the old songs, and you love them — but then there comes a time when you’re doing your thing and there doesn’t seem to be much sense in repeating what’s gone before,” he said.

“So you then use the structure or the memory, almost, but you put your own spin on it and try to get away from any formula,” Paul added. “And so you experiment with the structure for your own songs. We did that … You’re conscious of the old songs, but you’re also conscious of forging a new way to write.”

Paul McCartney wrote a song he thought was original but not everyone agreed

Paul pointed to The Beatles’ “From Me to You” as one of the first songs he wrote that felt completely new. “The song itself is in the key of C Major, but then it goes to a G Minor 7th for that middle, and that was kind of one of those ‘Ooh, yeah’ moments,” he said. “A lot of what we wrote, because we didn’t read or write music, was instinctive. So we’d try a chord and say, ‘Ooh, that’s nice.'”

However, not everyone agrees with Paul’s assessment of “From Me to You.” According to the book The Beatles: A Hard Days’ Write — The Stories Behind Every Song, The Isley Brothers‘ version of “Twist and Shout” inspired the “oohs” in “From Me to You.” The Beatles also covered “Twist and Shout.”

How Paul McCartney’s dad reacted to ‘From Me to You’

The Beatles had some reservations about “From Me to You.” The Fab Four were worried the song wouldn’t catch on with fans. They knew “From Me to You” had simple lyrics, but they feared its music was too complicated. The Beatles discussed the matter with Paul’s father, James McCartney. James convinced them the song was “a nice little tune.” Subsequently, the Fab Four released the song.

How the public reacted to The Beatles’ ‘From Me to You’

“From Me to You” to you wasn’t much of a hit in the United States. It reached No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for six weeks. On the other hand, it was much more popular in the United Kingdom. The Official Charts Company reports “From Me to You” topped the charts in the U.K., staying on the chart for 21 weeks. “From Me to You” impressed Paul and it seemed to impress the people of the U.K.