John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ Might Have Been a Call for Unity—Except With Beatles Bandmate Paul McCartney

For anyone even somewhat familiar with The Beatles, it is common knowledge that Paul McCartney and John Lennon had quite the beef following the breakup. That being so, there are a plethora of alleged reasons attributing to their animosity and estranged relationship.

Some of the cited reasons include McCartney’s dominant behavior, Lennon’s relationship with Yoko Ono, and debates over the rights and royalties. All the alleged reasons consistently receive discussion and analysis and as a result, have contradicting truths. However, what is undeniably true are the artistic public critiques Lennon did of McCartney on his album, Imagine.

John Lennon’s Lyrical Diss’

Lennon’s 1971 album is known for speaking of peace and unity thanks to songs such as “Imagine” and “Gimme Some Truth.” Given this overarching theme, some of the songs and their scathing motives are often overlooked. Particularly when it comes to the songs “Crippled Inside” and “How Do You Sleep?”

Both songs are diss tracks about McCartney, and Lennon goes the extra mile not only to scrutinize McCartney but also to make sure the whole world knows he’s doing so. In “Crippled Inside,” Lennon sings, One thing you can’t hide / Is when you’re crippled inside / Take it, brother. It’s the last line that seemingly points directly to McCartney and his supposed superficial attitude.

In “How Do You Sleep?” Lennon gets far more direct. He sings in the opening verse, So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise / You better see right through that mother’s eyes / Those freaks was right when they said you was dead / The one mistake you made was in your head. Without question is John Lennon directly alluding to McCartney, and much like “Crippled Inside,” Lennon speaks about McCartney’s falseness.

A pretty face may last a year or two / But pretty soon they’ll see what you can do, is one of the lines attributing to Lennon’s perspective about McCartney’s hypocritical and deceitful nature. Thanks to these lines, it is quite evident what Lennon thought about McCartney following The Beatles. Matter of fact, he doubled down and got even more direct in some of the album art for Imagine.

Lennon’s Rude Riff on McCartney’s ‘Ram’

If one is familiar with McCartney’s album Ram, they are aware that the cover includes McCartney grabbing a ram by its horns. Furthermore, it garnered McCartney loads of success as it reached No. 1 on the UK charts and No. 2 in the US. However, given the limelight McCartney had been receiving from it, Lennon supposedly thought it would be funny to spoof it.

Lennon satirized McCartney by including a picture of himself holding a pig by the ears in Imagine’s album photo collection. The photo is yet another overt criticism of McCartney and supports the rest of the critiques on the album. Regardless of whether you’re for McCartney or Lennon, Imagine did exactly what it said not to do. As Lennon seemingly waged war against McCartney on an album protesting against it.

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