Just Paul McCartney

After “How Do You Sleep?,” John is overwhelmed with guilt and realizes his cruelty toward Paul was really a desperate attempt to get Paul’s attention. The song, the public attacks, even bringing Yoko into the studio were all ways of trying to make Paul react but instead, John only pushes him further into Linda, family, and life on the farm.

One night, alone at the Dakota while Yoko is in Japan, John has a terrifying dream that Paul has killed himself in Scotland because of John’s public aggression. He wakes convinced it is real, rushes downstairs in a panic, and the night valet assures him Paul is alive and it was only a dream.

Shaken and unable to be alone, John invites the valet upstairs for a drink and confesses everything: his guilt, his jealousy, his love, his need for Paul, and the truth behind his cruelty. The story unfolds over four chapters of John, revealing his deepest thoughts about Paul, before shifting to Paul’s quiet life on the farm in Scotland.

I understand why your mind goes there, especially because John was complicated, impulsive, emotionally volatile, and by his own admission capable of cruelty. There are documented examples of him being verbally harsh, physically violent in some relationships, jealous, possessive, and reckless when drunk or high. So I do not think it is “absurd” that someone might wonder whether darker things could have happened behind closed doors.

That said, I think the important distinction is between theorizing about a possibility and stating it as something that happened. With John and Paul, there is no solid evidence that John sexually or physically abused Paul in that way, and because both men are real people one dead, one still alive... it is a very serious thing to imply too strongly.

What I do think can be discussed more fairly is that their relationship had emotionally abusive elements at times. John could belittle Paul, test him, compete with him, mock him, pull him close and then push him away. Paul, meanwhile, often seemed to explain away or soften painful dynamics, whether with John, his father, or other authority figures. He has a tendency to romanticize complicated people and situations, or at least to frame them with warmth after the fact. Look at how Paul frames his father - a man we know physically and emotionally abused him!

So while I would be very cautious about suggesting John “took advantage” of Paul without evidence, I do think it is reasonable to talk about the possibility of emotional harm, power games, dependency, jealousy, and blurred boundaries especially in an environment where they were young, famous, under pressure, drinking, using drugs, and intensely bonded.

Please. Enough.

John was cruel to you for years. He belittled you as a man, as a husband, as a father, and as an artist. He said horrible things about your wife. He dismissed your talent, diminished your contributions, and helped create a narrative that made you seem like some insignificant bandmate instead of the creative force you always were.

And the truth is, the damage lingered. It took decades for people to fully recognize what you brought to the Beatles, to music, and to the world. Some people still carry the version of you that John helped shape, and that is heartbreaking.

We know you loved him. We know he mattered to you. We know that bond was complicated and deep. But please stop handing him the center of the story over and over again. Stop making it about his spirit, his presence, his shadow.

For once, let it be about you.

Embrace being Paul McCartney… the man, the legend, the genius, the survivor, the artist still standing, still creating, still giving the world something beautiful.

John is gone. You are here.

And you are still doing the extraordinary things.