The last single Paul McCartney wrote before his departure from The Beatles is one of the band’s most iconic songs: “Let It Be”. The song is the title track on The Beatles’ controversial final studio album “Let It Be”. Although Paul McCartney wrote the song – and John Lennon despised it – the song is credited to the legendary Lennon-McCartney partnership. The song was released as a single on 6 March 1970, a month before McCartney announced his departure from The Beatles. Let’s dive into the story and meaning behind the song!
The Origin Behind Let It Be
Paul McCartney wrote “Let It Be” about a dream he had. In this dream, McCartney saw his mother. A magical reunion, for McCartney’s mother – Mary Patricia McCartney – died a decade earlier. The dream occurred to Paul during a stressful period. The Beatles were in the midst of the intense process of recording “The White Album”, and the Fab Four were partying way too much.
In an interview with Wired, McCartney said: “She came to me in the dream. It is a magic moment, because you’re actually there with your mother. So she seemed to know that I was a bit stressed out and she said: ‘Don’t worry, it’s gonna be fine, just let it be’…”I thought that was a great idea for a song. So I went to the piano and I wrote it.”
Funnily enough, “Let It Be” wasn’t the first song Paul McCartney wrote as a result of a dream. In 1965, the melody of the song “Yesterday” arose to him during a dream too.
Read more: The Story Behind “Yesterday” by The Beatles
And although this story is the commonly known origin behind “Let It Be”, The Beatles’ road manager Mal Evans believed he was the origin behind the song. In Keith Badman’s book “The Beatles Off The Record” Evans said: “Paul was meditating one day, they were writing all the time, and I came to him in a vision. I was just standing there, saying, ‘Let it be, let it be,’ and that’s where the song came from.”
Mal Evans’ story seems logical when you listen to early rehearsals of “Let It Be”. Instead of singing mother Mary – as McCartney does in the release we all know – McCartney sings brother Malcolm. Somewhere along the way, McCartney changed brother Malcolm to mother Mary.
Mal Evans died in 1976, and Paul McCartney’s story was only established in the 1980s. Is there a bit of truth in both stories? Or is it a case of McCartney’s selective memory? I guess we’ll never know.
The Story Behind Let it Be
Paul McCartney started to compose “Let It Be” in 1968, during the recording of “The White Album”. The first time he rehearsed the song was in January 1969. A few days later the band joined McCartney. The master take, which was the basis of the now-known version of “Let It Be”, was recorded on 31 January 1969. In the months thereafter, George Harrison overdubbed 2 new guitar solos. One of which appeared on the single version (produced by George Martin), and the other on the album version (produced by Phil Spector).
Read more: The 10 Best Beatles Songs of All Time
In the midst of it all, The Beatles were on the verge of breaking up. In fact, the project “Let It Be” – which was originally called “Get Back” – was an attempt by McCartney to reunite the spirit of the band members. McCartney’s idea was to document the rehearsals of The Beatles’ new studio album, followed by a concert broadcast.
The friction between the group had many causes: Paul McCartney’s dominance for instance, or George Harrison’s increased songwriting ambitions, not to forget John Lennon’s girlfriend Yoko Ono, and much much more. McCartney’s idea of documenting the rehearsals only made matters worse.
The Beatles eventually broke up in April 1970, after McCartney announced he was no longer part of the band. Since “Get Back” wasn’t a suitable name given to circumstances, the album’s name was changed to “Let It Be”. It was released a month after the breakup, on 8 May 1970. The single version of “Let It Be”, which was released in March 1970, became the final single before McCartney’s departure from the band.
The Meaning of Let It Be
“Let It Be” is a song about having hope in times of despair. The song advises us to deal with our troubles and worries by just letting them be. Some of our problematic encounters with life are out of our control anyways. The song suggests having a positive outlook on life in even the darkest environments. McCartney himself often described the song as very positive.
Paul McCartney’s dream about his mother who told him to “Let it Be” and the friction between the members of The Beatles seem to be the inspiration behind the lyrics.
The Song’s Legacy
Although “Let It Be” is credited to Lennon-McCarthney, John Lennon wasn’t a fan of the song. He considered it a Paul McCartney song, and not a Beatles song. Besides that, Lennon didn’t like the fact the song could be interpreted as a religious song. This is mainly because of the Mother Mary reference.
Fans disagreed with Lennon, because “Let It Be” became a worldwide hit. The song topped the US charts in April 1970. It also topped the charts in 10 other countries. Weirdly enough, it wasn’t able to top the UK charts, peaking at number 2.
Since The Beatles broke up before the album was released, they never played “Let It Be” live. But the song is Paul McCartney’s most-played live song as a solo musician. Notable performances are during Live Aid 1985 and Linda McCartney’s (Paul’s wife) funeral, where Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr sang “Let It Be” during the memorial service.
All in all, “Let It Be” became one of the most well-known songs in the Beatles’ repertoire. It is critically acclaimed as one of The Beatles’ finest. The sensitive song filled with hope remains relevant decades later, and will continue to be so!
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