The song John Lennon wished he’d never written: How the late singer came to regret one Beatles hit because of its ‘disgusting lyrics’

It’s no secret that John Lennon was a talented songwriter, with a career that spanned decades and changed the trajectory of modern music.

The musician, along with his bandmate Paul McCartney, wrote dozens of songs that have since become classics, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t regret it.

In fact, there was an early Beatles song that Lennon was so “ashamed” of that he once confessed that he wished he had never written it.

Lennon said the hit, written for The Beatles’ 1965 release ‘Help!’, had “disgusting lyrics”, which he was “so ashamed” of that he “could barely sing them”.

The song in question is, perhaps surprisingly, ‘It’s Only Love’.

It was written by Lennon and McCartney: an underrated song detailing a romantic relationship, with simple lyrics and an undeniably catchy chorus.

“It’s just love, and that’s all, but it’s so hard to love you,” the lyrics say.

But Lennon harbored hatred for the song, which had the once-revealing working title ‘That’s A Nice Hat’. Hit Parader Magazine: ‘That’s the only song I really hate. Terrible lyrics.’

He also described ‘It’s Only Love’ as ‘the most embarrassing song I’ve ever written.’

Lennon explained: ‘Everything rhymed. Disgusting lyrics. Even then, I was so embarrassed by the lyrics that I could barely sing them.

“That was a song I really wish I had never written.”

But his co-writer McCartney was more lenient with the song, which appeared in the second half of Help! – a studio album that accompanied a film of the same name.

He said: “Sometimes we weren’t opposed to the lyrics coming out pretty bland on some of those filler songs like “It’s Only Love.”

‘If a lyric was really bad we would edit it, but we weren’t too picky about it, because it’s just a rock ‘n’ roll song. I mean, this is not literature.

Although McCartney describes the song as filler, it is important to consider the context in which it was written: the height of so-called ‘Beatlemania’ in the 1960s.

Aid! It accompanied a film of the same name and was the last of five albums that The Beatles had released in just two years.

They began in March 1963 with Please Please Me, followed in November by With The Beatles. The acclaimed A Hard Day’s Night arrived in 1964, as did Beatles For Sale.

It was in 1965 that the band released Help!, before sharing a sixth album, Rubber Soul, just four months later.

Considering the scale of the songwriting, and the fact that Lennon was in his early 20s and at the beginning of his career, it is not surprising that he identified a “weakness”.

It is also the case that the song is representative of the band at the time: a group of young people who wanted to write fun rock ‘n’ roll songs to get people dancing.

As they grew older and practiced more, their art grew with bold concept albums, such as Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which was released in 1967.

That said, ‘It’s Only Love’ doesn’t displease fans, with many writing on social media that it was ‘one of the best songs’ Lennon ever wrote.

One person said: “For 99% of bands this would be their ultimate masterpiece, for The Beatles it’s an underrated gem.”

Another explained: ‘John’s voice is so raw and emotional on this song. One of the best songs John has ever written.

A third said: “I don’t care what John thinks, this was a great song.”

‘This song is so underrated. Even John hated him. “I love it,” another fan added.

‘It’s Only Love’ was recorded in June 1965 and only took six takes to get it right.

Lennon decided to double-track his vocals on the sixth take and five guitars were recorded to complete the two-minute track: three electric guitars, two acoustic guitars and a George Harrison Rickenbacker 12-string.