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12.02pm
1 July 2020
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One thing I’ve noticed about Beatles fans is that the more “hardcore” of a fan they get, the more they appreciate John. A hardcore Beatles fan is basically someone who knows every Beatles song made as a group.
When I was a schoolboy, my favorite Beatles song was Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da . I loved Paul’s stuff much more. But as I got more into the Beatles, I started to find that all the huge fans seem to dismiss Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da , When I’m 64, Honey Pie , and even Hello, Goodbye as “granny music”, just like John said. I mean, I love John’s music. In fact, my top 3 Beatles songs are all written by him. But I feel like songs like Hey Jude , Let It Be , Yesterday , and Hello Goodbye are considered “overrated.” Some people even say that Paul wrote no good songs due to him not being a drugged-up acid maniac.
Personally, I think Hey Jude is amazing. And John thought so, too. He stated that it was some of Paul’s best work.
Anyways, if people are going to hate on McCartney, they should be reminded that he’s the richest musician ever to this date.
At least he’s not as underrated as George…
Tell me your thoughts on this and tell me if you agree.
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5.24pm
Moderators
15 February 2015
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I think that, in some sectors, it’s just edgy and cool to like John, the edgy cool Beatle. Personally I can afford to give very, very few damns about trends in likingness and what’s overrated and underrated. 
I’ve found for myself that, as I’ve become more hardcore and gotten into the Beatles’ individual post-breakup work, I’ve only come to appreciate Paul’s output more and more.
George is still my favorite though. 
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5.57pm
Reviewers
Moderators
1 May 2011
Offline After Paul has gone his body of work will be hugely reconsidered and seen for how exceptional it is. Currently he’s generally viewed as the goofy thumbs-up lighter-of-the-two one who wrote some very corny hackwork songs whilst those who idolise John conveniently ignore anything that doesn’t fit their image of him.
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Beatlebug, Magill, sir walter raleigh"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
2.03am
14 June 2016
Offline John and Paul fans can be tribal, but deep down, they still respect what the other brought to the table.
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Vera Chuck and Dave, Beatlebug, forn, sir walter raleigh, Rube1.The Beatles 2.Sgt. Pepper 3.Abbey Road 4.Magical Mystery Tour 5.Rubber Soul 6.Revolver 7.Help! 8.Let It Be
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Most Avid John Fan 2020 and 2021: 
4.53am
25 February 2020
Offline John is my favourite Beatle, but Paul’s a close second.
Paul is one of my two favourite musicians of all time, along with Prince (note: I mean as far as pure musicianship goes, not necessarily artistry [both do rank highly for me in that regard though]).
Paul wrote some of my favourite Beatles songs, and also a few that I find grating.
but, take those songs away from their respective albums, and they’re incomplete.
I’m not the biggest fan of, say, Ob-La-Di, but it just….wouldn’t be The White Album without it.
8.40am
1 July 2020
Offline I think each beatle deserves the same amount of respect
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Vera Chuck and Dave, Beatlebug, RubeLocal George fanatic
2021:
4.16am
1 January 2017
Offline I hope this doesn’t sound too bad, but it feels like I only seem to really gravitate towards John for a short while around his two anniversaries, in terms of his solo music at least – I much prefer and listen more often to his Beatle compositions. Meanwhile, I’ve been Paul crazy for about two years and can happily immerse myself in most eras (except maybe the early 2000s/Heather years) of his work anytime. 
l also wouldn’t say I took to appreciating John specifically as soon as I got deeper into them, but more I appreciated them all equally before going through a good few phases for all four being my favourite.
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2017:
1.37pm
18 April 2013
Offline Since my divorce I haven’t listened to Paul. I heard the new album once. I don’t want to hear happy songs about romantic love.
I copied John and George to the iPod I take to work and I’ve been listening to John.
I can take hearing love songs about Yoko because in John’s words she was “like a bloke in drag” anyway.
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SgtPeppersBulldog, Magill, Vera Chuck and Dave"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney
9.37pm
1 November 2013
Offline Magill said
I think each beatle deserves the same amount of respect
Nah
9.01pm
18 April 2013
Offline Starr Shine? said
Magill said
I think each beatle deserves the same amount of respect
Nah
Hahaha
"If you're ever in the shit, grab my tit.” —Paul McCartney
9.59am
14 June 2016
Offline I will agree that I have learned to appreciate John’s stuff much more now that I’ve listened to it more, but I don’t think I appreciate Paul any less because of this.
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"Sometimes I wish I was just George Harrison" - John Lennon
10.46pm
4 September 2019
Offline Obviously serious Beatle fans will realize that the two of them together was what made them the most successful group ever. It’s hard to find a better example of two people who so perfectly complemented the other as songwriters. Having said that, here’s the tale of my journey:
When I was a youngster, Paul was my favorite Beatle. I liked his catchy songs and his upbeat attitude. Then when I got into my teen/young adult years, John became my favorite Beatle. His personality seemed to represent the music and the era better. He had a quick wit, was a better actor in the films, plus his songs seemed to be more personal, and also cooler, weirder, and deeper.
Around that time I even started to resent Paul a little. I had seen the Let it Be movie, and he seemed to be trying to boss the other Beatles around. I also didn’t like the idea that he was trying to force his own in laws on the others as managers, wanting to have two votes compared to everybody else’s one, etc. Also, back in the ’70s the Beatles were seen as “uncool” among a certain crowd (the musicians knew better). I blamed a lot of Paul’s granny songs for this perception, even if I liked many of them. I actually think in the ensuing years their reputation has increased in many ways, compared to then.
Since then, I realized that without Paul’s “bossiness”, we wouldn’t have had all the music that we do, because he had the work ethic and the ambition. And I now think that having his in laws as managers was meant to protect the group by having someone they could trust, not just to be self serving (as I thought at the time). And my admiration for Paul’s songwriting and musicianship has increased, and I see him as more of a young prodigy who grew into much more. I definitely view John and Paul as equals, or about as close as you can get.
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William Shears Campbell, SgtPeppersBulldog, SgtPeppersBulldog, Ahhh Girl4.22am
7 May 2017
Offline I have already said this in the Sgt Peppers ranking thread. But I feel obligated to repeat it, every time I read the dreaded word “granny” somewhere.
Somehow at some point, Lennon described Maccas songs as “granny music” somehwere and in the 50 plus years since, a bandwagon of fans has formed who repeat that term all the time. Obviously everyone has a different taste, but I just suggest to listen e.g. to When I’m Sixty-Four again where the lyrics are playful (not silly – playful) but sound like they were written by an adult, the melody is beautiful with the harmonies and the barque flavour of the clarinets and stuff. Then compare it to countless songs from 1963, most of them coming from Lennon in some shape or another, many of them being “Love Me Doo Girl, yeah yeah, you’re my Girl, thank you for loving me, hold my hand, yeah yeah” type of stuff.
I just don’t get it. The comparison makes no sense to me. If we want to enforce the term, the early Beatles stuff is so much more “granny” than basically every one of their songs after 1965. Although I’d rather call it “Mother -in-law music” because it’s so prissy and tame, especially lyrically, it gives me images of the Beatles sitting down with some girls families and making a good impression. Of course their music and whole appearance was still considered new and maybe even a bit edgy at the time, but I feel like it must have been outdated three years later when the same guys made psych rock and other ground-breaking stuff. And of course I enjoy a lot of early Beatles songs too, but almost never to the same degree as I enjoy their post-1965 material.
Bottom line 1: Even if there was a tendency of Paul being more pop and John being more experimental, I just feel like the term makes no sense, the labeling makes no sense, the bandwagon makes no sense, and Lennon wasn’t really in a position to judge, or dare I say insult Paul. They complemented each other too well, the world needs Eleanor Rigby next to Tomorrow Never Knows and Penny Lane next to Strawberry Fields Forever . And there’s enough to put Pauls image as the tame mainstream Beatle next to John, the cool innovative Beatle, into perspective: It was Paul who worked with strings and classical music first, he made Carnival Of Light (okay, we haven’t heard it, but there are descriptions) before Lennon made Revolution 9 or his Yoko musique concrète stuff, he made the arguably loudest, hardest and filthiest rocker with Helter Skelter , he brought tape loops to Tomorrow Never Knows and orchestra crescendos to A Day In The Life …
Bottom line 2: I love Pauls music. From 1963 to 2020.
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10.00am
1 July 2020
Offline Here’s what I think about fans of each Beatle:
John: Mostly men like him, but lots of women like him, too. People who love John more than the others kind of go along with him by saying that any sweetie music-hall thing Paul writes sucks. I can kind of see why, but some of those songs are great. John is a great Beatle, but also the meanest. Some of these fans (not real fans, though) say “Paul isn’t cool cause he didn’t do drugs.” He did. Probably more than John. So basically, if you like John, you’re either a non-Beatles fan who knows nothing about the others, or you like experimental music. You also hate war and M**k D***d C*****n (that man is so horrible I had to censor it out for your own good.)
Paul: You enjoy some classy music-hall tunes once in a while. You like how talented he was in anything. He could play almost any instrument, and is a great singer and songwriter. You know that Paul was a crackhead in 67′, so you hate when people say that Paul was too much of a coward for drugs. Cocaine is horrible for you, so he was taking risks. You also love John, but you know Paul wrote the best songs.
George: You’re most likely religious, and you enjoy Indian music. Like George, you think some drugs are fine, but you know some are also terrible. My favorite is George, so I know all about this. You are also very smart and you eat a lot.
Ringo: You’re someone who just likes him so he has more fans. Or you think he has a sexy nose 
Local George fanatic
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1.09pm
26 January 2017
Offline It seems far more people want to be like John in every single way instead of Paul, despite John’s struggles with his family, his mental health, and his addiction, people really romanticize John even though he’s constantly trying to tell us in his music that his life is a living hell. Paul on the other hand is an old man still optimistic in the ways of love and life. “If you come on to me, then I’ll come on to you”
I agree after Paul’s passing people will be able to look at their outputs with a more level head, particularly the Beatles fans of the next generation who grow up with no living Beatles
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1.34pm
1 July 2020
Offline I try to be like George if anyone, but only lookwise. Other than that, i’m just myself
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sir walter raleigh, BeatlebugLocal George fanatic
2021:
1.44pm
26 January 2017
Offline Magill said
I try to be like George if anyone, but only lookwise. Other than that, i’m just myself
Idolizing John as a highschooler I tried to look like him whenever possible, but didn’t relate to him that much personality wise
"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"
-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"
-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl
2.10pm
Moderators
15 February 2015
Offline Magill said
Paul: You enjoy some classy music-hall tunes once in a while. You like how talented he was in anything. He could play almost any instrument, and is a great singer and songwriter. You know that Paul was a crackhead in 67′, so you hate when people say that Paul was too much of a coward for drugs. Cocaine is horrible for you, so he was taking risks. You also love John, but you know Paul wrote the best songs.
George: You’re most likely religious, and you enjoy Indian music. Like George, you think some drugs are fine, but you know some are also terrible. My favorite is George, so I know all about this. You are also very smart and you eat a lot.
George and Paul (in that order) are my 2 favorite Beatles and I feel personally called out by these descriptions
the only slightly inaccurate things are that I’m not the hugest fan of music-hall tunes, I really personally dislike most all drugs (although I do understand that some are much worse than others), and I’m not exactly religious but I’m certainly not atheist or 100% agnostic either so I guess that makes me an obnoxious spiritual hipster but those are minor quibbles 
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3.33pm
2 May 2013
Offline I can’t think of a Beatles track I don’t like, (except maybe Mr Moonlight ) even the ones that get criticised were still streets ahead the competition whilst there are many, many top drawer ones. However I think they needed one another to bring out the best and counterpoint the worst excesses. Both have done some dross in their solo years, McCartney’s We All Stand Together, the excruciating Ebony And Ivory , Mull Of Kintyre … whilst for John pretty much the whole of Some Time In New York City , and later the syrupy, cloying Beautiful Boy every bit as much a piece of granny $hit as Paul gets routinely criticised for. Both have done excellent stuff solo too, but I always wonder about the potentially magnificent albums that could have been up to the mid 70’s if they’d stayed together and worked the magic on the best of those solo tracks. They’d be different to what came out for sure and potentially even greater.
5.25am
Moderators
27 November 2016
Offline Magill said
George: You’re most likely religious, and you enjoy Indian music. Like George, you think some drugs are fine, but you know some are also terrible. My favorite is George, so I know all about this. You are also very smart and you eat a lot.
From what I’ve found, many George fans on this forum don’t fit that description – specifically the first two points in particular!
Ringo: You’re someone who just likes him so he has more fans. Or you think he has a sexy nose
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