Why John Lennon Is Responsible for Wings’ Biggest Hit

Published Nov 12, 2026, 5:46 PM EST Levi Case is a Chicago-based recent graduate of the University of Missouri's Journalism School, specializing in music writing. He can trace his adoration for music back to his parents, who both excelled and encouraged him to go into music. His combination of being a member of multiple prominent bands, and knowledge of folklore and stories from working at magazines and radio stations make him a Swiss army knife for music features. On April 9, 1970, the entire world sat down to read one slip of paper. By the time they reached the end of the press release, if they could still see through tear-blurred eyes, one conclusion was drawn: Paul McCartney was leaving The Beatles. In hindsight, it's not really that surprising McCartney felt called to split from the pack. The "Fab Four" had a less than ideal relationship with each other, specifically the band's two workhorse songwriters, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. If you find yourself looking up the term "creative differences" in a dictionary, there's a non-zero chance there's a picture of Lennon and McCartney hurling insults at each other like grenades during a writing session. But it was this conflicting nature that led to McCartney's most popular post-Beatles song, and one that even Lennon had to give him props for. During the sessions for 1968's The White Album, tensions rose so high that Ringo Starr — synonymous with the mantra "peace and love" — had to take a two-week sabbatical from the studio. But while Starr was merely just caught in the crossfire, it was John Lennon and Paul McCartney on the frontlines against each other. A Messy Post-Beatles Beef Both sides let this boil over into the press. In that very same press release announcing his departure from The Beatles, McCartney included a "self interview" detailing his next steps in his solo career, as well as promotional copies of his solo debut album, McCartney. John Lennon made it known that he didn't care for his former bandmates' actions, almost as much as he hated his songs, saying McCartney would "drag his feet," when discussing business with him and referring to him as an "egomaniac," in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone. It's impossible to deny that both of the frontmen wielded a golden pen, but they were also a rare case of utter opposite sides of the songwriting spectrum. Lennon always tried to force the audience to see the world through his eyes, attributing his reality to the world in the anti-establishment "Imagine," or "Instant Karma!," a threat-shaped single aimed at his harshest music critic. McCartney, on the other hand, was a vessel of pure unadulterated creativity, someone who was just gnawing at the chain to keep making more and more music. While he was undoubtedly productive, he was often seen as oafish in comparison to his writing partner, lacking true purpose in his songs. He even admitted in his 1977 autobiography that he made up the lyrics to "Jet" with no real meaning in mind, although he has claimed the song to be about a pregnant dog, a pony and meeting his wife Linda's father for the first time. Both of their reputations followed them out of The Beatles, but while Lennon was lauded by critics as a revolutionary, McCartney was pushed to the side, and just dismissed as another pop star that had nothing real to say. The media would continue to push the narrative that Paul McCartney was just a pretty face with no good stories to tell. But even someone as charming as Sir Paul McCartney has their breaking point. Rolling Stone dubbed his 1971 project Ram, "so inconsequential and so monumentally irrelevant," that you couldn't even focus enough on the songs to decide whether you hated them or not. America's self-appointed "only Rock 'n Roll magazine," Creem, called him "stereotypical and vapid," after Wings' showing on ABC-TV. And the final straw came, of course, from an all too familiar source. "There were accusations in the mid-1970's — including one from John [Lennon] — that I was just writing 'silly love songs'," McCartney said in a 2021 autobiography, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. Paul Decides to Fight Back Images via Paul McCartney Most songwriters would've found themselves intimidated by the pressures of falling into a typecast. But thankfully, Paul McCartney is not most songwriters. McCartney took the very words that had been belittling him, and gave them an entirely different meaning. In March 1976, Paul McCartney and Wings released the first single for their Speed of Sound album: "Silly Love Songs." McCartney's musical prowess had never been in question — the instrumental for the track has the signature brightness of a Wings song, spearheaded by a classically captivating McCartney bassline. But after being dragged through the dirt for years about his lyrics having no substance, every line in the song is packed with purpose. From the opening lines (Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs / But I look around me and I see it isn't so) to the bridge refrain, (How can I tell you about my loved one?) the entire track feels less like a lead single from one of the biggest pop stars on the planet, and more of a strongly worded entry into McCartney's personal diary. It's so expertly written and still filled with McCartney's tongue-in-cheek sense of humor: just repeating "I love you" as a chorus comes across as a wry wink to those trying to pigeon-hole him. McCartney and Wings Are Flying High Image via Getty Images The term "instant classic" gets thrown around a lot, but there was no debate that Paul McCartney had almost immediately changed public perception of himself and Wings. For five weeks, no one could get away from the number one song on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and it was eventually awarded the number one pop song of the year at the end of 1976. It caused many of the publications and music writers to eat their previous words, and admit McCartney's songwriting prowess. However, the biggest praise came from the same person that had coined the song's title, and his harshest critic. Even John Lennon was enamored with the song. His personal photographer, Bob Gruen, said that Lennon took the song personally, seeing it as a direct confession of love to him from his former writing partner. There are many theories that the song even lit a fire under Lennon to write "(Just Like) Starting Over," his own version of a sappy song designed for radio play. After the stress of being one of The Beatles, it was evident that Paul McCartney just wanted to find his love of music again with his solo work and Wings. And in trying to just have fun, too many people forgot about the powerhouse penmanship behind hits like "Yesterday" and "Hey Jude." "Silly Love Songs" was a statement by McCartney, an attempt to brush off some of the chips on his shoulder and remind those very critics that he still has the fastball.