Cynthia Lennon Thought the Beatles’ ‘Love Me Do’ Was ‘Monotonous’
The Beatlesā first official single as a band was āLove Me Do.ā According to John Lennonās then-wife, though, this wasnāt the groupās best song. In fact, she thought this Lennon-McCartney original was āmonotonous.ā Hereās what we learned from Cynthia Lennonās 2005 memoir.
The Beatles released their first single āLove Me Doā off āPlease Please Meā
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr made up the finalized Beatles lineup. As one of the first singles released under this band name, the Beatles created āLove Me Do.ā
āLove, love me do / You know I love you / Iāll always be true / So please, love me do / Whoa-oh, love me do,ā the lyrics state. āSomeone to love / Somebody new / Someone to love / Someone like you.ā
On Spotify, the McCartney and Lennon duo are credited as the songwriters for āLove Me Do.ā In 1980, Lennon elaborated on the songās origin in All We Are Saying with David Sheff, according to the Beatles Bible.Ā
āāāāLove Me Doā is Paulās song. He wrote it when he was a teenager,ā Lennon said. āLet me think. I might have helped on the middle eight, but I couldnāt swear to it. I do know he had the song around, in Hamburg, even, way, way before we were songwriters.ā
Cynthia Lennon shared her thoughts on the Beatlesā first single
After John and Cynthia Lennon married, the Beatles signed a five-year recording deal with Parlophone. After that, they recorded āLove Me Do,ā which became the bandās first single. Cynthia Lennon detailed her thoughts on this song in her 2005 memoir, John.
āJohn and Paul had written it, and I was surprised theyād chosen it because I didnāt think it was one of their best ā I found it a bit monotonous. But John said that was the one George Martin wanted: he liked Johnās harmonica playing on it.ā
āJohn told me theyād done so many takes of āLove Me Doā that he never wanted to hear it again.ā
It took time for the song to land comfortably on the music charts. After āLove Me Doā found success, the Beatles became one of the worldās most popular rock bands. The song was eventually added to the bandās first album, Please Please Me, which debuted in 1963. Now, the remastered version has over 180 million Spotify plays.Ā
What songs did Paul McCartney and John Lennon write for the Beatles?
As a songwriter duo, McCartney and Lennon are the masterminds behind most Beatles hits. That includes āStrawberry Fields Forever,ā āHey Jude,ā and āBlackbird.ā
Other Beatles members wrote for the group, with Ringo Starr creating āOctopusās Gardenā for Abbey Road. On Spotify, Harrison is credited as the sole songwriter for āHere Comes the Sun.ā Now, music by the Beatles is available on most major streaming platforms.Ā