Paul McCartney Reflects on His Relationship With John Lennon: ‘I Don’t Feel Like I Have to Be Respectful’

Paul McCartney offered some rare insight into his relationship with late Beatles bandmate and longtime friend, John Lennon.

The Wings frontman, 83, discussed his deeply personal new album, The Boys Of Dungeon Lane, in a recent interview with NME published on Saturday, May 30, when the topic turned to his falling out and reconciliation with Lennon.

When asked by the outlet if he felt a responsibility to honor Lennon and the other departed Beatle, George Harrison, McCartney referenced a line in the new song Days We Left Behind, which includes the line, “We wrote a secret code to never be spoken.” He noted that it’s a reference to his longtime friend Lennon, who he started the iconic band with and the rapport they had.

“I don’t feel like I have to be respectful. He’s just a mate – it’s just this guy who I met, and we wrote songs together, so I don’t feel a sense of responsibility. I hope it is responsible,” he explained.

“The thing is, I have very good memories of the guys, John and George, even though towards the end of The Beatles, John was slagging me off a lot. At the time, it was very hurtful, like sticking little daggers in me,” McCartney continued. “It was just annoying, because you thought, ‘I’ve got to answer him back, what am I going to do?’ But I suddenly realised, ‘Wait a minute, this is John. This is the guy I’ve known since I was 16. That’s just what he does.’ It didn’t sting so much once I realised it was just John being John.”

As Entertainment Weekly notes, a key point of friction between the foursome that made up The Beatles before their breakup in 1970 was over management. McCartney wanted his father-in-law, entertainment lawyer Lee Eastman, to represent the band, while the others wanted businessman Allen Klein. The band ultimately went with Klein. However, McCartney revealed that, before his death, Lennon admitted it was a mistake, which ultimately led to their reconciliation.

“I was lucky because we’d been separated because of the business trouble and stuff, and John eventually came round to my way of thinking that the guy they wanted to bring in [Allen Klein] was a crook, and I’d suffered because they all thought I was the nutter, I was the crook,” McCartney explained to NME. “So, when it turned out that I was right, it was good to hear John say, ‘I think Paul might have been right’ – begrudgingly.”