John Lennon - My Love Is Like A Bird With A Broken Wing

3 Ein neuer und nachdenklicher Ton: 1964

 I had a vision when I was twelve. And I saw a man on a flaming pie, and he said, „You are Beatles with an A“. And we are. … That’s how it started, anyway.

John Lennon im Gespräch mit Capitol Records im Januar 1964. Als Vorbereitung für die US-Reise wurde das Beatles-Interview auf Platte gepresst und amerikanischen DJs geschickt.

***

 I suppose, a couple of people have jumped on the railway carriage. I mean, the bandwagon. But it doesn’t really matter, you know, because it’s flattery and it promotes the whole idea of us if we’re away, and there’s a few little Beatles still going to remind people of us.

 Yeah. Well, that was sort of the main catch phrase from ‘She Loves You’. But we stuck that on. We’d written the song nearly, and we suddenly needed more, so we had ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’. And it caught on, you know. They use it for if you’re gonna be ‘with it’ or ‚hip’. … Yeah, we’ll have to write another song with it.

John Lennon über Trittbrettfahrer und die Bedeutung von „Yeah“, ob das nun das Markenzeichen der Beatles sei, im Gespräch mit Harold Kenney für AFN in Paris am 24. Januar 1964.

***

 No. We need Money first.

Während der hektischen und lauten Pressekonferenz am 7. Februar 1964 am John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City werden die vier Pilzköpfe gebeten, etwas zu singen, verneinen aber. Auf die Nachfrage, es gebe Zweifel, ob sie überhaupt singen könnten, sagte John den Satz.

***

 Well, we’ve been out to a couple of clubs. Rock clubs, mainly. Because we just like listening to rock when we’re not working, anyway. And we’re hoping some of our favorite artists will come up, but you know, they’re all out on the road or something. They’re not here. … There’s a lot, you know: Marvin Gaye, Miracles, Mary Wells. Those people.

John Lennon auf die Frage, was er bisher in den USA gemacht hat und wer seine liebsten amerikanischen Künstler sind, im Gespräch mit CBS im Plaza Hotel in New York City am 10. Februar 1964.

***

 I Want To Hold Your Nose … We all speak fluent Shoe.

John Lennon auf die Fragen, welches der zweite große Hit war und ob er Fremdsprachen beherrsche, im Gespräch mit Carroll James in Washington am 11. Februar 1964.

***

 Can you imagine, Sir Ringo?

 I think it costs more to keep it short than to keep it long, don’t you.

John Lennon auf die Fragen, ob er sich vorstellen könne, dass die Beatles irgendwann zu Rittern geschlagen werden und ob er beim Friseur im vergangenen Jahr Geld gespart habe, im Gespräch mit mehreren Journalisten kurz vor dem Konzert im Coliseum in Washington DC am 11. Februar 1964. Inzwischen können wir es uns alle vorstellen: Ringo Starr wurde im März 2018 zum Ritter geschlagen und ist seither Sir Richard Starkey. (Nicola Bardola: Ringo Starr – Die Biographie, Edition Olms, 2020)

***

 Tonight was, you know, marvelous. Ridiculous. Almost eight thousand people all shouting at once, and we were trying to shout louder than them with microphones, and we still couldn’t beat them … We thought we’d have to grow on everybody, and everybody seems to sort of know us all, as if we’ve been here for years. It’s great.

John Lennon in der Britischen Botschaft in Washington DC nach dem Konzert im Coliseum am 11. Februar 1964.

***

 As far as all of us are concerned, there’s no such thing as the Liverpool sound, the Mersey sound, or even a Beatles sound. It’s just a name that people tag on. It’s just us playing rock and roll. The only difference is, we wrote it. You know, that’s the only difference. Most of it, anyway. We didn’t write all of it.

 Paul and I do most of the writing. George has written a few. Ringo hasn’t because it’s hard to write something on the drums.

 We arrange them in the studio normally. We get a basic idea, because you write a song and you get a sound in your head that you think it’s gonna sound like. And it usually turns out different. We’ve given up trying to plan it too much before we go in. None of us can read music. Our A&R man (George Martin) can read music, so sometimes he’ll say: ‘That note’s just - it doesn’t work. You can’t have it.’ And we have to go into detail with the piano and everything and work it out and say ‘It does work. We’re singing it. It works.’ And sometimes he’s right, sometimes he’s wrong. But it usually all works out in the end.

 I find it very similar, only over here they sort of went wilder quicker, you know. In England we sort of had to go around, we toured and things like that and got known. But I suppose the publicity helped a lot here. … We could have just come over and got off the plane, if they said ‘We don’t want to know about that’, you know, ‘Look at them, we don’t ...’. Publicity can do a lot, but you can’t sell anything if the kids don’t want it. … Oh, obviously. Anything in this business is a fad. I mean, we don’t think we’re gonna last forever. We’re just gonna have a good time while we last. … Something that’s got this wild, whatever people say about it: ‘You’ll die tomorrow,’ we could go on working for another five years, even if not at this rate, and make a lot of money. Obviously it’s gonna level out. People say: ‘You’re gonna die next month.’ You might’nt be as popular but you know, you can go on and on from this peak.

John Lennon auf die Fragen, ob sie in den USA ebenso bekannt seien wie in Großbritannien, welche Rolle die PR dabei spiele und ob alles eine Mode-Erscheinung sei, im Gespräch mit Ed Rudy in New York City kurz vor dem Auftritt in der Carnegie Hall am 12. Februar 1964.

***

 There were no flies on Frank that morning – after all why not? He was a responsible citizen with a wife and child, wasn’t he?

So beginnt John Lennon seinen ersten Gedicht- und Prosaband „In His Own Write“ (erschienen im März 1964) mit eigenen Zeichnungen, mit experimentellen und witzigen Texten, wie sie oft auch in seinen Songs zu finden sind:

 I was bored on the 9th Octover 1940 when, I believe, the Nasties were still booming us led by Madalf Heatlump (Who only had one). Anyway they didn’t get me. I attended to varicous schools in Liddypol. And still didn’t pass-much to my Aunties supplies. As a member of the most publified Beatles my and (P, G, and R’s) records might seem funnier to some of you than this book, but as far as I’m conceived this correction of short writty is the most wonderfoul larf I’ve ever ready. God help and breed you all.

 Jesus El Pifco was a foreigner and he knew it. He had imigrateful from his little white slum in Barcelover a good thirsty year ago having first secured the handy job as a coachman in Scotland.

***

 I’ve got a copy of my book here. I’ll read a poem what is called ‘Alec Speaking.’He is putting it lithely when he says / Quobble in the Grass / Strab he down the soddieflays / Amo amat amass / Amonk, amink, a minibus / Amarmylaidie Moon / Amikky mendip multiplus / Amighty midgey spoon / And so I traddled onward / Caring not a care / Onward, Onward, Onward. / Onward my friends, and glory for the fifty-ninth.

John Lennon im Gespräch für die BBC in London am 19. März 1964.

***

 I don’t drive anything. I don’t need a car. … Well I mean, I’d never get a chance to use it. I’ll get one when I’m older.

John Lennon im Gespräch mit Gene Loving in der Wembley Sports Arena am 26. April 1964 kurz vor dem Auftritt.

***

 No, we just sort of behave as normally as we can. We don’t feel as though we should preach this and tell them that. Let them do what they like.

 It’s usually adults who don’t hear. Like in Hong Kong in the paper, it said, ‘The Beatles fought a losing battle against the screams’. Now, compared with other people they were quite quiet, you know. They still shouted, and most of the kids could hear but adults point out, ‚I couldn’t hear a thing’.

 Not really, because most of the top groups out there are friends of ours, so there’s none of that. The jealousy is only something they make up in the papers. You know, obviously they gotta keep a sort of thing going. All the groups or anything over there are sort of best mates.

 We don’t get money from him (Brian Epstein), we get money from our accountant. We don’t hardly need anything because most things are sort of paid through the company. We just hardly spend anything in cash. Just cigarettes, and even that: they’re bought by our road managers.

 

John Lennon auf die Fragen, ob er sich Teenagern gegenüber verantwortlich fühle, ob das Kreischen der Mädchen frustrierend sei und ob es Neid unter den britischen Bands gebe, bei einer Pressekonferenz in Sydney am 11. Juni 1964.

***

 I think you’ve got to be, you know. You might get shot.

 We’d already made ‘My Bonnie’ and all those other rubbishy records for Polydor. And kids from the Cavern, ‘round about Liverpool, were going into his record shop and saying ‘Have you got My Bonnie by The Beatles?’ So he got interested and he asked one of the kids who were we. He thought we were German. And he came ‘round. We were playing at the Cavern, which is about a hundred yards away.

John Lennon auf die Fragen, ob er sich bewusst sei, was um ihn herum geschehe und wie Brian Epstein zum Manager wurde bei einer Pressekonferenz in Australien in Adelaide am 12. Juni 1964.

***

 I’d probably would have been in prison.

 If the people who read it are sick, it’s sick. You know, it depends on your mind. You can read it and feel sick.

John Lennon auf die Fragen, was aus ihm geworden wäre, hätte es die Beatles nicht gegeben und warum manche Kritiker sein Buch schräg und krank fänden, bei einer Pressekonferenz in Melbourne am 14. Juni 1964.

***

 It’s about nothing. If you like it, you like it; if you don’t, you don’t. That’s all there is to it. There’s nothing deep or anything in it. It’s just meant to be funny. I’m just writing now when I feel like it. I only do it when I feel in a funny mood. … I did the drawings for the book. That’s the most amount of drawing I’ve done since I left college (John Lennon über „In His Own Write“).

 I went to art school because there didn’t seem to be any hope for me in any other field. It was about the only thing I could do, possibly, but I didn’t do very well there either because I’m lazy.

 I had a group before I met the others called The Quarrymen, and then Paul joined it, and then George joined it, then we began to change the names for different bookings, and then we finally hit upon The Beatles.

 They just make it up about the hair now, but it was something sort of happened between Hamburg and Paris.

Gespräch mit Doreen Kelso in Wellington, Neuseeland, 21. Juni 1964

***

Das dritte Studioalbum der Beatles „A Hard Day’s Night“ erscheint im Juni 1964.

 I should realized a lot of things before: If this is love you’ve got to give me more.

I Should Have Known Better, 1964

 I’m begging on my bended knees: If you’ll only listen to my pleas, if there’s anything I can do. Cause I really can’t stand that I’m so in love with you.

Tell Me Why, 1964

 If I give my heart to you, I must be shure from the very start that you would love me more than here.

If I Fell, 1964

 Just to dance with you is everything I need. Before this dance is through I think I’ll love you too. I’m so happy when you dance with me.

I’m Happy Just To Dance With You, 1964

 Don’t wanna cry when there’s people there. I get shy when they start to stare. I’m gonna hide myself away, but I’ll come back again someday.

I’ll Cry Instead, 1964

 When you need a shoulder to cry on I hope it will be mine. Call me tonight and I’ll come to you.

Any Time At All, 1964

 C’mon if you please, I got no time for trivialities. I got a girl who’s waiting home for me tonight.

When I Get Home, 1964

***

 The people that are moaning about us not being here are people that never even came to see us when we were here. You know, we could count on our fingers the original fans we had here, and the ones that really followed us. And most of them gave up being teenagers anyway. They’re all sort of settled in and different things. The ones that are moaning probably came to see us about once, or after we’d made records.

John Lennon in Liverpool anlässlich der dortigen Premiere des Films „A Hard Day’s Night“ bei einem Gespräch für die BBC am 10. Juli 1964.

***

 The rockers think we’re mods, and then the mods think we’re rockers.

John Lennon bei einer Pressekonferenz in Vancouver am 22. August 1964.

***

 I was looking for a name like The Crickets that meant two things, and from crickets I got to beetles. And I changed to B E A because B E E T L E S didn’t mean two things, so I changed the E to an A. And it meant two things then. … When you said it, people thought of crawly things, and when you read it, it was beat music.

John zur Namensgebung in einem Gespräch am 24. August 1964 in der US-TV-Show „Pop Chronicles“.

***

 George and I passed through Los Angeles on our way back from a holiday in Tahiti, unannounced. And we just did a trip ‘round, because we had about four hours. So we just went ‘round to L.A. and nobody knew at all. Several people spotted us, but they thought we were fakes.

John Lennon bei einer Pressekonferenz in Denver am 26. August 1964.

***

 We’re not trying to get any message across.

John Lennon bei einer Pressekonferenz in New York City am 28. August 1964.

***

 Paul and I make more money out of songwriting than we do out of doing everything else. So we’ll just carry on with that, probably.

John Lennon bei einer Pressekonferenz in Chicago am 5. September 1964.

***

 We’re just singers, you know. Or shouters, whatever you like to call it.

 We like the Stones, you know. Dave Clark’s alright, but we prefer the Stones.

John Lennon bei einer Pressekonferenz in Detroit am 6. September 1964.

***

 This is! A fella described it on the radio yesterday as a typical Liverpool dockers outfit. … I got it at Key West.

 We’ll still have the money, so we’ll miss the fans. They’ll be the ones that have gone. The money will still be there.

 If I can find out which one takes the least tax, I’ll vote for them.

 Ringo’s mother is pretty hot. … Only joking, Elsie.

 Enough to get around in the Reeperbahn in Hamburg.

John Lennon beantwortet Fragen zur Herkunft seiner Kleidung, die er gerade trägt, zur Bedeutung der Fans im Vergleich zu Geld, zu wählbaren Politikern, zu den attraktivsten Frauen der Welt und zu seinen Deutschkenntnissen bei einer Pressekonferenz in Kansas City am 17. September 1964.

***

 We enjoy it! We always try to get a copy of these people that do our songs. The thing about the ‘Chipmunks’ and the ‘Boston...’, they do it so differently from us and from each other. It’s very interesting. And also we, Paul and I, get alot of money when they make these so it’s very good for us, you know.

John Lennon über Coverversionen: Im Gespräch mit Larry Kane in Maryland am 13. September 1964. Dann fragt Kane, was er an New York besonders mag. Die Antwort Johns widerlegt Spekulationen, dass es ausschließlich Yoko war, die ihn für New York begeistert hat.

Man vergisst gerne, wie oft John in den Anfangszeiten der Beatles Munharmonika gespielt hat. John ist 1964 stolz darauf.

Schließlich äußert sich John noch zur Frage, ob es eine Methode gebe, um den Krieg zu beenden.

 I just like cities, you see, and preferably big ones. That’s why I liked it. And we met some good people like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, you know, and I enjoy meeting people I admire.

 There’s quite a few we did with mouth organ. I played it on the early hits „Please Please Me“, „From Me To You“, „Love Me Do“, „Little Child“ from the LP, „I Should Have Known Better“ on the film, I stuck mouth organ on that.

 I don’t think there is one, you know. Not if everybody was all rich and happy, and each country had all they wanted, they’d still want the next bit. I don’t think there’ll ever be any solution – only, just, you know, a sort of power block where everybody’s got the same weapons.

***

 I’m so glad that she’s my little girl. She’s so glad, she’s telling all the world.

I Feel Fine, 1964

(Der Song erscheint als A-Seite auf einer Single im November 1964 und ist vermutlich der erste in der Rock-Geschichte mit Gitarren-Feedback veröffentlicht auf Vinyl.)

***

 ‚Watch Your Step’ (von Bobby Parker) is one of my favourite records. The Beatles have used the lick in various forms. The Allman Brothers used the lick straight as it was.

John Lennon im Gespräch mit Dennis Elsas 1974. John meint damit insbesondere „I Feel Fine“ und „Day Tripper“. The Allman Brothers nutzen „Watch Your Step“ in „One Way Out“.

***

Mit dem vierten Studioalbum „Beatles For Sale“, das im Dezember 1964 erscheint, fällt ein neuer und nachdenklicher Ton in den Songs von John Lennon auf.

 Although I laugh and I act like a clown, beneath this mask I am wearing a frown … I lost someone who’s near to me and I’m not what I appear to be.

I’m A Loser, auf dem Album Beatles For Sale, Dezember 1964

***

 Part of me suspects that I’m a loser and the other part of me thinks I’m God Almighty.

Interview mit David Sheff für den Playboy im September 1980.

 All kids draw and write poetry and everything, and some of us last until we’re about eighteen, but most drop off at about twelve when some guy comes up and says, „You’re no good“. That’s all we get told all our lives. „You haven’t got the ability. You’re a cobbler“. It happened to all of us, but if somebody had told me all my life, „Yeah, you’re a great artist“, I would have been a more secure person. John Lennon in The Beatles Anthology

***

 There’s nothing for me here, so I will disappear.

I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party, auf dem Album Beatles For Sale, Dezember 1964

4 Red is the color that will make me blue

 We’d been playing around in Liverpool for a bit without getting anywhere, trying to get work, and the other groups kept telling us, ‘You’ll do alright, you’ll get work someday’. And then we went back to Hamburg, and when we came back, suddenly we were a ‘Wow’. Mind you, 70 percent of the audience thought we were a ‘German Wow’, but we didn’t care about that.

 

 The thing is, in America it just seemed ridiculous, I mean, the idea of having a hit record over there. It was just, you know, something you could never do. That’s what I thought anyhow. But then I realized that it’s just the same as here, that kids everywhere all go for the same stuff. And seeing we’d done it in England and all, there’s no reason why we couldn’t do it in America, too. But the American disc jockeys didn’t know about British records. They didn’t play them; nobody promoted them, and so you didn’t have hits.

 It wasn’t until ‚Time’ and ‚Life’ and ‚Newsweek’ came over and wrote articles and created an interest in us that American disc jockeys started playing our records. And Capitol said, ‘Well, can we have their records?’ You know, they had been offered our records years ago, and they didn’t want them. But when they heard we were big over here they said, ‘Can we have them now?’ So we said, ‘As long as you promote them’. So Capitol promoted, and with them and all these articles on us, the records just took off.

 If you say you don’t believe in God, everybody assumes you’re antireligious, and you probably think that’s what we mean by that. We’re not quite sure what we are, but I know that we’re more agnostic than atheistic.

 The only thing we’ve got against religion is the hypocritical side of it, which I can’t stand. Like the clergy is always moaning about people being poor, while they themselves are all going around with millions of quid worth of robes on. That’s the stuff I can’t stand.

John Lennon im Gespräch mit Sam Shepard für den Palyboy, Februar 1965.

***

 They do so many cuts, it looks as though we’re nearly acting. But we’re not.

 The dealers have ordered that many records. But it doesn’t mean to say people are gonna buy them. It’s when they’ve ordered them, and people come and buy them from them.

 It’s worse for us than other people, because we’ve got to keep up doing what we’ve done before. If we don’t do it as well, people will knock you. Even though you’re doing better than anybody else and you’re doing it not as well as you did before, you’re in trouble.

 I think you can be conceited but you can still worry. I’ve met lots of conceited people who are worried before they go on. I don’t think the two things connect at all, you know. You can be conceited and worry yourself sick.

John Lennon im Gespräch mit Eamonn Andrews für den TV-Sender ABC am 11. April 1965.

***

 Deutschland, Deutschland, Obertown, Obertown, that’s where we were.

John Lennon im Gespräch mit Sandy Lesberg am 9. Mai 1965. Er meint die Dreharbeiten für den Film „Help!“ in Obertauern in Österreich.

***

 People notice us being cynical because we’re public figures, but we’ve always had the same attitude. We always disliked the same kind of people as we did years ago.

John Lennon in einem PR-Gespräch für den Film „Help!“, das im Mai 1965 an mehrere Radiosender verschickt wurde.

***

 It’s easier to write with cushions than on pieces of hard bench. … Remember, we were on hard benches before we made it, in an unknown cellar in Liverpool. And it’s much easier... on a nice cushion.

John Lennon im Gespräch für British Calandar News am 12. Juni 1965.

***

Das fünfte Beatles Studioalbum der Beatles „Help!“ erscheint im August 1965.

 I don’t know why she’s riding so high. She ought to think twice.

Ticket To Ride, 1965

 Here I stand hand in hand, turn my face to the wall.

You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, 1965

 If you don’t treat her right, my friend, you’re going to find her gone.

You’re Going To Lose That Girl, 1965

 I never needed anybody’s help in any way, but now these days are gone, I’m not so self assured.

Help! 1965 ***

 Red is the color that will make me blue.

Yes It Is, 1965

Diese vergleichsweise selten gespielte, sehr melancholische Ballade erscheint als B-Seite der Single „Ticket To Ride“ im April 1965.