Paul McCartney on How John Lennon Still Influences His Songwriting

Paul McCartney recently opened up about how John Lennon still influences his songwriting decades after his tragic death.

In a new BBC radio documentary honoring the 80th birthday of Lennon, Sir Paul said (as transcribed by NME), "Ever since The Beatles broke up and we didn’t write together or even record together, I think each one of us referenced the others. When we’re writing stuff, I often do it, you know."

McCartney continues, "I’m writing something and I go, ‘Oh, god, this is bloody awful.’ And I think what would John say? And you go, ‘Yeah, you’re right. It’s bloody awful. You’ve got to change it.’ And so I’ll change it, and I know from reports that he did similar things to that. If I’d have a record out, he’d go, ‘Bloody hell… got to go in the studio. Got to try and do better than Paul.'"

The two-part John Lennon at 80 special will air on BBC Radio 2 on October 3 and 4 and features Sean Ono Lennon interviewing McCartney, Elton John and Julian Lennon.