John Lennon’s surprising Disdain: The story Behind His Least Favorite Beatles Track
As John Lennon progressed through his musical journey, he began to shed the idealistic view he once held about the Beatles’ catalog, especially regarding his own contributions.
While he cherished several of the bandS early hits, such as “All My Loving,” and later masterpieces like “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “In My Life,” and “Hey Jude,” he adopted a more critical stance towards many other tracks. His harshest critiques were reserved for songs he deemed formulaic or trivial. For instance, he labeled “It’s Only Love” from Help! as “abysmal,” and dismissed “Mean Mr.Mustard” from Abbey Road as “a piece of garbage.”
The Oddity of ‘Run for Your Life’
Among the songs Lennon criticized, one stood out as his “least favorite.” This track, ”Run for Your Life,” was included in the Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul, a record celebrated for its cohesive and thoughtful musical arrangements.
Released on December 3, 1965, Rubber Soul marked the Beatles’ sixth studio album and was the second released that year, following Help!. Despite being produced in a relatively short timeframe—13 of its 14 tracks were written and recorded within two months after the band’s U.S. tour—the Beatles dedicated themselves to crafting each song wiht care. Thay explored new sounds and instruments, such as George Harrison’s sitar in “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” and Paul McCartney’s fuzz bass in “Think for Yourself.”
The album’s 14th track, “Wait,” was a leftover from the Help! sessions, added to meet the album’s track count when the band struggled to create another new song.
“John was always on the run, running for his life. He was married.”
Unpacking ‘Run for Your Life’
So,what made “Run for Your Life” Lennon’s least favorite? Ironically,it was the first song recorded for Rubber Soul and also the last to appear on the album. In a 1970 interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon expressed his disdain: “I never liked ‘run for Your Life’ because it was a song I just knocked off. It was inspired by[[[[Elvis Presley’s]‘Baby,Let’s Play House.’”
Presley’s “Baby, Let’s Play House,” released in April 1955, was a important hit for him, written by Arthur Gunter, who had released his own version in late 1954. Lennon was particularly struck by the line, ”I’d rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man,” which he adapted for the opening of “Run for Your Life,” reinforcing the theme in the chorus: “Catch you with another man, that’s the end, little girl.”
“So I wrote it around that,” Lennon recounted, “but I didn’t think it was that critically important.” Yet, the song’s lyrics revealed much about his insecurities during that period, reflecting a possessive nature in his relationships. As Paul McCartney noted in his memoir, many Years From now, Lennon was also struggling with his marriage at the time.
“John was always on the run, running for his life,” McCartney wrote. “He was married; whereas none of my songs would have ‘catch you with another man.’ It was never a concern of mine, at all, because I had a girlfriend and I would go with other girls…. I wasn’t as worried about that as John was. A bit of a macho song.”
The Unlikely Popularity of ‘Run for Your Life’
Despite Lennon’s personal feelings about “Run for Your Life,” the song was unlikely to be excluded from the album. With the holiday season approaching, there was a pressing need to release a new Beatles record in time for Christmas.
The final recording session for the album, which began at 4 p.m. on November 11 and continued until 7 a.m. the following morning, included the recording of McCartney’s “You Won’t See Me” and Lennon’s “Girl,” along with overdubs for “Wait.” There simply wasn’t time for any additional tracks.
Even tho Lennon wished “Run for Your Life” could have been left off Rubber Soul, George Harrison had a different perspective. “It was sort of a throwaway song of mine that I never thought much of, but it was always a favorite of George’s,” Lennon shared with author David Sheff in 1980. Harrison likely appreciated the possibility to showcase the lively rockabilly riffs that punctuated the song, creating a contrast with Lennon’s darker lyrical themes.
Recent Developments in Beatles History
In related news, John Lennon’s 12-string Framus guitar, featured on “Help!”, has been reissued following its notable sale last year. Simultaneously occurring, mccartney has discussed how his left-handed playing style influenced both him and Lennon to adapt their techniques.
This comes on the heels of an auction of a letter Lennon penned to Eric Clapton in 1971, during an unsuccessful attempt to form a supergroup with him.
