paulandjohn

[paulandjohn]

when i close the notebook, one will leave marks on the other in a way that they simply can't be the same as before if i try to erase it

[paulandjohn]

“are you sure?”

[paulandjohn]

decades of paul mccartney 🪞

[paulandjohn]

the red string of fete

[paulandjohn]

i feel like john gravitates to people who are gentle, tender, and feminine-leaning but in a way where they willing to stand up for themselves and quickly shut down john’s bullshit. and i feel like paul likes people who don’t hold him to a high standard, gently push him out of his comfort zone, and who are trustworthy enough for paul to not be so damn controlling with. paul needs someone who will take the lead but in a way that is fully accommodating to paul’s own desires, making paul *seem* easygoing despite that fact that he is really the one in control…

I guess it depends, with John, on your definition of "gentle, tender". Because I don't think Paul or Yoko fit that description at all. Not to say that I think either of them was cruel toward John but they're far from the coddling type. John comes crying to Paul, Paul's going to be like "did you know you're actually fine? You have such a great life. Come on let's get to work." John comes crying to Yoko, Yoko's going to be like "I don't know what to do with you when you're like this. Go talk to the tarot reader or something." May and Cynthia seemed (and maybe Stu) to be the definition of gentle and tender. So maybe we're at a half and half accuracy there.

Then we get to femininity. ((((I'm far from the right person to be discussing this. I'm from a podunk town where me not wearing makeup, wearing pants to church, pursuing a career, and expecting my husband to take on an equal share of child rearing and housework make me stick out like a sore thumb. But then again that is like how many places were in the sixties so idk maybe I am the right person.)))) Cynthia and May obviously conformed perfectly to their assigned genders. I do think Stu performed a little more feminine with his open emotions and pursuit of the more delicate arts. But idk if that counts for anything really especially where John was into all that too so maybe Stu wouldn't be "feminine-leaning" in comparison. Paul is, emotionally, more traditionally masculine than John is. He was, however, very willing to take on female assigned roles such as doing housework and publicly appearing to take a back seat in leadership with John. So maybe that's what you mean by feminine-leaning? Yoko is like the least feminine-leaning person and John said multiple times he was attracted to her because of her masculine qualities. So imo John was "attracted to the binary" as Paul put it in his lyrics book.

As far as "willing to stand up for themselves and quickly shut down john’s bullshit" it's a little complicated too because while I definitely think Paul and Yoko did that, I think the case is much more difficult to make for May or Cynthia or Stu. So I don't know, maybe you're right. Maybe that is exactly what John was looking for, but he was never able to find it in one person. Like if Paul or Yoko could've been gentler and more tender, or if May, Stu, and Cynthia would've had stronger backbones.

With Paul, I think you've got the first part right and that's part of why it didn't work out with Jane or Heather. John and Linda and Nancy are all very laid back people who help Paul balance the perfectionism he enforces on himself.

The comfort zone thing is tricky too because there was nothing gentle about John's pushing Paul to defy his father, take LSD, or whatever exactly he was pushing for that broke up the band. And Linda I think WAS Paul's comfort zone during their entire marriage. Not to say she was a doormat. They just happened to have the same general life goals and morals and when they did disagree they definitely fought but Paul usually got his way. Jane took Paul out of his comfort zone as far as silk handkerchiefs and "expanding his gregarious ambitions beyond the pubs" as Ruth put it. But I think even though he wasn't comfortable with it, he wanted that life badly and that's a big reason why he chose to be with Jane and he probably all but explicitly begged her to do that for him. So no pushing there. Heather may have pushed him into activism and he may have resented her for that I honestly don't know but it wasn't good. Nancy I think is another cool girl comfort zone wife for Paul.

Trustworthy is another one that I think depends on what you mean by that. The minute Paul stopped actively controlling John, he became a junkie who was also addicted to self-exposition, abandoned his child, got himself stranded in a foreign country, and tried his damnedest to lose his fortune to a predatory conman. Like. Do you know what that looks like if you take away John's money and fame? It looks like your veteran uncle using his disability payments to buy meth and getting kicked out of his dad's abandoned auto shop and getting married to the woman who constantly calls the cops on him when they're fighting. So. I wouldn't call that trustworthy. Jane and Linda and Nancy (maybe Heather idk) would never act like that, but Paul was still quite controlling with them because I physically don't think he can let go. I do agree with you that he would love to *seem* easygoing despite really being the one in control. And actually, that did happen with Linda now that I think about it. She got a lot of "controlling bitch" stereotyping. But I don't think that was because of their actual relationship dynamic, just society being like 'no man would actually want his wife in his band. I hate my wife. mccartney must hate his wife too, poor guy.'

Anyways all that to say I think I like halfway agree with you anon but I don't think I'm definitely correct on this point and I'd love to hear more if you think I'm missing something.

[paulandjohn]

i love the spectrum of mclennon shippers because there are people who just ship them for fun and don't actually believe anything happened between them. and then there are the people who scour the internet for any quote from one of them that even slightly hints at one of them having feelings for each other that go beyond platonic (typically these are the people who call themselves mclennon truthers).

I love both ends of the spectrum. keep on doing whatever as long as there's more mclennon content in the world

I'd consider myself in the middle but more towards the mclennon truther side. whatever the fuck they had going on it was homosexual erotic and drove them both insane. thank you paul mccartney and john lennon for not being normal in any way shape or form

[paulandjohn]

I don’t think I’ll ever be loved the way these two loved each other.

I project onto them so much that when I read fanfiction or see them being cute it makes me feel loved.

[paulandjohn]

Hi, I keep seeing the quote of Paul calling John "Delicious boy". Is it real and if so in what context did he say it??

Yes, it is real. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

SNOW: I remember when John Lennon returned his MBE to the Queen, one of the reasons he self-mockingly cited was that ‘Instant Karma’ was slipping down the charts… PAUL: Delicious boy, delicious broth of a boy. He was a lovely guy, you know. And it gets sadder and sadder to be saying “was”. Nearer to when he died I couldn’t believe I was saying “was”, but now I do believe I’m saying “was”. I’ve resisted it. I’ve tried to pretend he didn’t get killed… it’s a bit sad. But anyway, I was blessed to be in The Beatles, to work with John. Something, somewhere… you know they talk about a gift of songwriting, well that was a pretty cool gift whoever gave it me.

Interview with Mat Snow for MOJO. (1995)

Even with context it's out of context

[paulandjohn]

From an article on a sale of Beatles memorabilia in the Liverpool Daily Post, 5th January 1985

Transcript under the cut

Imagine the scene. It's Christmas 1959 and the students at Liverpool Art School in high spirits. Two of them have penned their own version of the panto, Cinderellq, and it's to be performed in the canteen.

Naturally enough the scriptwriters have given themselves starring roles - one as an Ugly Sister, the other as Dandini.

Friends help with scene painting and costumes, particularly artist's model June Furlong, who supplies the ugly sisters with their outrageous get-up.

Liverpool born June has treasured memories of that panto.

So much so, that she kept the costumes worn by one of the Ugly Sisters and co-writer of the show - John Lennon. Next week the blue polka-dot dress, silk and straw hats, pink corsets and vulgar earrings are among the more unusual lots in a Liverpool sale of Beatles memorabilia.

June, well known in Liverpool and international art circles, was an early acquaintance of Lennon, McCartney, and early Beatles member Stuart Sutcliffe, at the Art School.

Lennon and his friend Rod Murray jumped at the chance to write a pantomime, and while the former was an Ugly Sister, the latter played Dandini.

The other sister was Geoff Mohamand, June Harry played Cinderella, Sutcliffe was Fairy Snow and John Chase appeared as Prince Charming.

[paulandjohn]

Has Paul ever implied that Let Me Roll It was made with John in mind?

He was initially more hesitant to admit it:

"I still don’t think it sounds like him [John], but that’s your opinion. I can dig it if it sounds that way to you." (1976)

"I didn't intend the song to be a pastiche of Lennon. [...] The vocal does sound like John. I hadn't realised I'd sung it like John." (1999)

"Let Me Roll It’ wasn’t to John. It was just in the style that we did with The Beatles that John was particularly known for. It was really actually the use of the echo. It was one of those: ‘You’re not going to use echo just cos John used it?’ I don’t think so. To tell you the truth, that was more rolling a joint. That was the double meaning there: ‘Let me roll it to you.’ That was more at the back of mind than anything else. " (2010)

"‘Let Me Roll It’ was not really a Lennon pastiche, although my use of tape echo did sound more like John than me. But tape echo was not John’s exclusive territory! And you have to remember that, despite the myth, there was a lot of commonality between us in the way that we thought and the way that we worked." (2020)

But in his book The Lyrics, he finally said:

"John loved this tape echo and used it more than any of us, so it became a signature sound on his solo records. I’m acknowledging that by using it here. I remember first singing ‘Let Me Roll It’ and thinking, ‘Yeah, this is very like a John song.’ It’s in John’s area of vocalisation, needless to say, but the most Lennon-esque thing is the echo." (2021)

Then he adds:

"When we do talk about the lyrics, I think it’s fair to say that to ‘roll it’ has to do with rolling a joint. I don’t think that’s going to come as a surprise to anyone. When I play live now, I sometimes wonder whether the audience isn’t a bit prudish. Then I smell marijuana and I think, ‘Well, that’s alright. That smells good.’ That probably happens more at festivals, though. It’s probably easier not to get caught by security. ‘Let Me Roll It’ is a love song at its heart. The other, erotic, sense of rolling that is part and parcel of rock and roll is very much part of it. The image of ‘My heart is like a wheel’ so ‘Let me roll it to you’ is one that anyone can connect with. Anyone can understand how exposed you feel when you offer your heart to, or reveal your affections for, another person. It’s very difficult. The hesitation we feel in that situation – of wanting to reach out but being reluctant to be completely open – is made physical in the abrupt starting and stopping of the riff."

[paulandjohn]

"As well as McCartney, the other Beatles also held cameras. One colour photograph taken in Florida shows John making a portrait of his wife Cynthia as she sits in the sunshine. Although Cynthia is in the foreground of McCartney’s picture, John is its focus. There is an intimacy to these images that McCartney today recognises as particularly potent: ‘It’s a Beatle taking a Beatle . . . there’s something a little bit incestuous that I like." -Eyes of the Storm (2024)

[paulandjohn]

Magical Mystery Tour, 1967  

[paulandjohn]

Just remembering that Paul said this...

TVG: Heather says she's bossy. Do you need bossing around?

Paul: Well, she seems to think so. I think I'm fine.

TVG: You must be very secure with yourself.

Paul: I think it is that. I'm OK with gay people, too, because I'm essentially comfortable with my sexuality. I can goof around with gay people. I sort of know who I am by now. And it's about time. (1999 TV Guide Interview)

----------------

"It was always obvious Brian was gay and we could talk to him about gay things, but he would never come out with, ‘Hello, Paul, you’re looking nice today.’ I was quite obviously un-gay, due to my hunting of the female hordes. I think we all gave that impression."—Paul (The Beatles Anthology, Page 266)

-----------------

"The reason why we didn’t do Up Against It wasn’t because it was too far out or anything. We didn’t do it because it was gay. We weren’t gay and really that was all there was to it. It was quite simple, really. Brian was gay…and so he and the gay crowd could appreciate it. Now, it wasn’t that we were anti-gay – just that we, The Beatles, weren’t gay."—Paul (1997)

[paulandjohn]

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[paulandjohn]

“Brian [Epstein] was very straightforward with me about being gay. We could talk about it quite openly, particularly once we got to know each other. He never hit on me at all. There was never any question of it. We lived so intimately together that there would have been one evening when he was sort of drunk and so on. It would have been in his character to do that. But we didn’t really talk about that. I remember sitting in his car one night talking about a girl that he’d once sort of loved at RADA and this was his lost love. His family hadn’t liked her. She’d not been up to par or something. Brian had a bit of sorrow about this. I don’t know what the strength of it was but we talked a long time about that and he seemed quite sad that it had not worked out. But that was the extent of that. From then on he was just kind of openly gay and none of us minded, really. We were quite naive. Sometimes on the road we would go to a late-night drinking club which was great because we’d worked long and wanted to relax. There were often all men there. I don’t think any of us went, ‘Oh, there’s all men here.’ It just sort of happened. I don’t think it was till years later we said, ‘Oh, that was probably a gay hangout.’ I don’t think we inquired too much of Brian. We knew he had certain friends and we knew who they were and what the relationship was but we didn’t really talk too much about it, I think it was probably better that way. He had his own life and we had ours. I didn’t tell him about every girl I went with. I think in many ways it was a plus because there’s a gay network in show business. There are a lot of people who are gay so that a lot of the TV producers we would find ourselves working with we’d later find out were gay. So now I can see that Brian was networking. I think it was only ever a plus. It was never negative.”

— Paul McCartney, c/o Debbie Geller, In My Life: The Brian Epstein Story. (2002)

[paulandjohn]

I found this image in the wilderness after 3 days no food I’m being hunted by bears and wild cats this is allllll I havve my shirt was used to filter stream water so I can survive

[paulandjohn]

Fanfic opening lines

Rules: share the first lines of ten of your latest fanfics (or up to if you have less!) & tag 10 people. Here they are, by most recent to oldest:

"Paul should go to bed, but he doesn’t." ("Under Dove-Grey Skies", mclennon)

"John doesn’t need the drink. He takes it anyway." ("Transatlantic", mclennon)

"The door to their office closes behind her with a soft, almost apologetic click. Her back meets the cool wood, and she leans into it, letting it bear her weight." ("Paper Thin", MSR)

"The wireless crackles in the sitting room as Paul's fever breaks, leaving him weak but restless." ("Gretna Green Waltz", mclennon)

���Thank you for calling Britannia Crown. Your call is very important to us and will be answered by the next available representative…” ("On Hold", johnlock)

"The first text message catches John in surgery midday; a horrible day, in which each patient is more miserable than the last." ("The Eye Begins to See", johnlock)

"From his seat on the floor the following Monday, with Rosie hanging off his arm, John’s eyes follow Mary fluttering around the flat all evening." ("Turned - Part II", johnlock)

"John moves back to Baker Street on the last day of summer." ("things we can't untie", johnlock)

"John doesn’t usually do this." ("Simon (or: Love Calls You by Your Name", johnlock)

"It’s three and a half hours by train from Kings Cross to Sunderland." ("Life and Death in Sunderland", johnlock)

Tagging @discordantwords @javelinbk @arwamachine @sgtpeppers @calaisreno @crepesuzette2023 @totallysilvergirl @stonedlennon @helloliriels @unchaineddaisychain and @fishfingerpies but also anyone else I didn't tag and would like to participate :)