|
Post by The End on Jun 27, 2008 11:14:34 GMT
A bit of a contentious question this one!!! Who do YOU think was the better songwriter - John or Paul? Feel free to justify your vote
|
|
alaskan
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 64
|
Post by alaskan on Jun 27, 2008 23:25:40 GMT
All in all, John was a man of words. He could write a song for anything and had a much greater poetic sensibility. Paul is a true songsmith in the greatest sense and would have succeeded at music if they'd never met. But for crafting a pop or rock song, nobody topped John.
|
|
TheVoid
What Goes On In Your Heart
Lay down all thoughts, surrender to The Void
Posts: 53
|
Post by TheVoid on Jun 28, 2008 7:13:09 GMT
JOHN! John actually could write leagues above Paul, IMHO. Paul was the better all round musician, and wrote some brilliant pop songs, love songs, and rockers, but John had truer words with more feeling. Not to say Paul didnt have that ability, just John was developed more and aware earlier than Paul. I think the earliest introspective and personally truthful song Paul ever wrote, and one I truly believe coulda been a John song, was I'm Looking Through You. Up to that point I dont think Paul was as deep and open as John. I guess I think of them like this...if I was trying to win the favor of a young lady, I'd look to Paul to write a perfect love song. If need a song to express longing, love lost or personal insecurities, I would want John to write that song. John was just more in touch with his feeling> Not that I think he would've agreed then. In fact I dont expect some of you might agree either. Maybe some of you do!! And maybe he would've a bit later in life.
|
|
|
Post by mrmustard on Nov 13, 2008 19:34:04 GMT
This question is so loaded it's untrue. A lot of people say that Lennon was a words man and McCartney was a music man. This of course doesn't stand up. Isn't it strange that for all the talk that says McCartney was technically the better songwriter that it was Lennon who wrote the songs with all the odd time signatures and time changes (Good Morning, Good Morning; Happiness is A warm Gun, Strawberry Fields etc). I can't think of any McCartney songs in the Beatles off the top of my head that had odd time signatures other than the odd 3/4 or 6/8.
Of course this does not always make the best musician and in a lot of cases hinders. I just think it adds weight to Lennons songwriting. They were both at such a level of songwriting then that very few other songwriters could get near to and it is purely personal opinion to who was the better. The competition between Lennon and McCartney was a major factor in what made the Beatles so great.
|
|
larosh
What Goes On In Your Heart
Posts: 77
|
Post by larosh on Nov 13, 2008 20:59:42 GMT
I...refuse to pick between them. I don't really think they're comparable. They're both brilliant, but not in exactly the same ways. Currently I think out of what I consider my personal favorite songs, Paul is in the lead, but even that isn't going to make me say he's my favorite. Basically, if I said I thought one was fundamentally better than the other, I would feel I was wrong. Maybe there should be a neither vote.
|
|
|
Post by mrmustard on Nov 13, 2008 21:29:31 GMT
I...refuse to pick between them. I don't really think they're comparable. They're both brilliant, but not in exactly the same ways. Currently I think out of what I consider my personal favorite songs, Paul is in the lead, but even that isn't going to make me say he's my favorite. Basically, if I said I thought one was fundamentally better than the other, I would feel I was wrong. Maybe there should be a neither vote. I agree. You can't choose betweem them. They both have different qualities that give them a parity as songwriters.
|
|
|
Post by maxssilverhammer on Jul 2, 2009 7:23:51 GMT
I...refuse to pick between them. I don't really think they're comparable. They're both brilliant, but not in exactly the same ways. Currently I think out of what I consider my personal favorite songs, Paul is in the lead, but even that isn't going to make me say he's my favorite. Basically, if I said I thought one was fundamentally better than the other, I would feel I was wrong. Maybe there should be a neither vote. i feel the exact same way. i simply cannot choose. i love them both differently because they are both two different individuals. i could never bring myself to choose one over the other.
|
|
indra
And That's A Start
Posts: 7
|
Post by indra on Aug 27, 2009 15:59:58 GMT
great question. the answer is tied up with what makes them a unique, unrepeatably great band. almost all succesful bands have a single frontman/woman who usually has the strongest creative gift. they dominate the group, and are the charismatic frontperson. with John and Paul what made them so special was that they were two exceptionally good songwriters, in the same band, with perfectly complementary yet different approaches. rather like a succesful marriage of opposites. fire and water, and together, they were more than the sum of their parts. for a golden period, they drew out each other's genius, and damped down each others weaknesses, in perfect balance. Paul was the better in terms of being a classic, fantastic tunesmith, capable of writing eternal standards like 'yesterday'. that song sounds like it has been around forever. as if somebody had to write it. john's aren't like that. Paul's various parodies of old music hall styles etc i think show how he was much more about writing classic songs (and boy did he. in my opinion, macca is the greatest songwriter of the 20th century, and one of the greatest singers). his weakness? when unchecked, his songwriting can get a bit mawkish. Paul mostly stuck to the rulebook of songwriting, but mastered it wonderfully.
John came from another planet. I think that he was the one more responsible for actually defining the way modern pop songwriting sounds. the original punk rocker. His weakness? laziness and a fondness for drugs (although they helped him in moderation), and a muse that was often a bit too untamed for its own good (i would go a step further and say that i suspect he had bipolar disorder, something that afflicts many very creative people). John pissed on the book of classic songwriting, and then hurled it out of the window.it's interesting if you listen to their 70s solo stuff, how much their different weaknesses come to the foreground, without their 'other half' to say 'that's fookin crap that, la'. I used to slightly favour macca as top beatle, but listen to that series of gobsmacking songs that john delivered just before he decided he'd rather remain mashed off his tits on drugs: Help! (my all-time fave beatles track) Ticket To Ride (one of his own personal faves. he felt that there was something new about the heavy, slow beat. and he was right). I'm Only Sleeping (an amazingly laid back groove) I Feel Fine His melodies are beautifully economical, almost monotonal. punk-like, in some ways. very simple, yet sad and affecting. pure pop. timeless. very direct, very solid. not clever-clever, but just right for the most economical delivery of words backed by drum, bass, and guitar. a true artist, he despised frilliness. it's just struck me that paul's songs were often too beautiful as pure melodies for the rest of the band to even play on them (Eleanor, blackbird, yesterday). yet how many of john's were like that? the vocal, lyric and melody line are always designed to take their place perfectly in the ensemble of the band, minimal as a bassline. SO: Paul for his timeless melodies the milkman can whistle. John for his revolutionary contribution to pop and rock music. In other words...er....it's a draw.
|
|
elementrypenguin
I'll Be On My Way
Living is Easy with eyes closed...
Posts: 155
|
Post by elementrypenguin on Sept 4, 2009 22:50:06 GMT
For Me it changes now and then. at the moment it's john,but two weeks ago is was paul. i think they have both written timeless songs. paul has written when i'm 64,hey jude,obla-di obla-da,let it be,and john has written penny lane,a hard days night,all you need it love,come together
|
|
elementrypenguin
I'll Be On My Way
Living is Easy with eyes closed...
Posts: 155
|
Post by elementrypenguin on Sept 4, 2009 23:33:02 GMT
My Bad! penny lane is by Paul. sorry. i assumed it was by john because well i thought it was him singing. it sounds very much like him.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 8:53:56 GMT
My Bad! penny lane is by Paul. sorry. i assumed it was by john because well i thought it was him singing. it sounds very much like him. It actually sounds nothing like John. Are you for real?
|
|
elementrypenguin
I'll Be On My Way
Living is Easy with eyes closed...
Posts: 155
|
Post by elementrypenguin on Sept 5, 2009 11:27:03 GMT
My Bad! penny lane is by Paul. sorry. i assumed it was by john because well i thought it was him singing. it sounds very much like him. It actually sounds nothing like John. Are you for real? yes i am actually. you'll find real people have different opinions. anyway,i'm probably biased,because the music video focuses alot on john.
|
|
|
Post by The End on Sept 5, 2009 11:43:07 GMT
John's voice is quite to the fore in some parts of Penny Lane especially at the end of each chorus, e.g. "In summer..." and "I sit and...". Although the lead vocal is pure Paul. Keep listening you'll be able to discern each individual voice eventually... although seasoned ears still debate over who sings the "aahhhhs" in A Day In The Life (it's Paul, I tell ya!).
AL :-)
|
|
elementrypenguin
I'll Be On My Way
Living is Easy with eyes closed...
Posts: 155
|
Post by elementrypenguin on Sept 5, 2009 11:51:01 GMT
oh no,the aaaaaah is definetely john. paul recorded the 'woke up,got out of bed' bit and had to finish it quickly enough to switch to an earlier recording on john at the end,if he didn't,his track would run over johns. i think that's true. there's a bit of a different between johns aahs and pauls. listen to the start of eleanor rigby. and then a day in the life. it sounds very similer but eleanor rigby is sung by paul. and that bit of a day in the life is john i'm pretty sure. i know who has which oice,but i just get mixed up sometimes.
|
|
|
Post by The End on Sept 5, 2009 11:52:51 GMT
Have a listen to the ahhhs on Lovely Rita... very similar?
|
|
elementrypenguin
I'll Be On My Way
Living is Easy with eyes closed...
Posts: 155
|
Post by elementrypenguin on Sept 5, 2009 11:56:33 GMT
Oh dear,you're right. i know have know idea how did it.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 12:03:39 GMT
John's voice is quite to the fore in some parts of Penny Lane especially at the end of each chorus, e.g. "In summer..." and "I sit and...". Although the lead vocal is pure Paul. Keep listening you'll be able to discern each individual voice eventually... although seasoned ears still debate over who sings the "aahhhhs" in A Day In The Life (it's Paul, I tell ya!).AL :-) Nah mate - it's John's
|
|
|
Post by The End on Sept 5, 2009 12:07:53 GMT
Well, I asked Paul and he said he sang it! OK, I haven't asked him yet but I will!! Definitely Paul!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2009 12:12:32 GMT
Well, I asked Paul and he said he sang it! OK, I haven't asked him yet but I will!! Definitely Paul!
|
|
sprucy in the sky
I'll Be On My Way
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
Posts: 313
|
Post by sprucy in the sky on Sept 10, 2009 14:17:40 GMT
simple as the beatles both john and paul complimented each other perfectly. after the beatles however i feel the competition was between john and george
|
|