The smug answer to that question might be, “Easily at first, then with increasing difficulty.”
We tend now to think of the primary composer of any “Lennon-McCartney” tune as whoever is singing the lead vocal. But in the beginning, the lads actually did sit down and write songs together. In fact, their very first single, “Love Me Do” was primarily Paul’s work, yet John sang the lead.
Most songwriting duos consist of a lyricist and a composer. You know, one writes the words, the other writes the music. The Lennon-McCartney collaboration was different. They both contributed to the lyrics and the tune. And in the early days of Beatlemania, they definitely worked in partnership. Songs like “From Me to You,” “She Loves You” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand” were worked out by both of them.
As their fame grew, they began to compose separately. Yet, because of their early agreement to share all songwriting credits, each felt free to offer suggestions to improve the other’s compositions. One outstanding example of this would be a song most would rank as one of the Beatles’ greatest, “A Day in the Life” from Sgt. Pepper. John had written most of the verses but felt the tune needed something in the middle to break it up. Paul wrote that middle part, the one that begins with “Woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head…” Again, as both were getting credit for the song anyway, John had no problem including Paul’s contribution.
Indeed, there are those who feel that the songs of John & Paul while in the Beatles surpass the quality of their solo work precisely because each was critiquing and improving the other’s work.
In general, Paul liked writing songs in the third person, often about other people and places, while John preferred writing the personal, “confessional” style of songwriting. While much has been written about John disparaging Paul’s songs immediately after the split, the truth is that as time went by, John expressed a desire to collaborate with his old mate again. Most feel that had his life not been cut short; we would likely have seen more true Lennon-McCartney compositions.
