Understanding Lennon/McCartney vol 1: Together

After 1.6M views, Vol 1 of this series has been blocked. I’ve addressed the flagged issue and am uploading again.

RETURNING VIEWERS PLEASE NOTE: This version does NOT differ significantly from the original published in April 2019. 

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Apologies to all for any inconvenience.

The best documentary about the greatest love story in history of popular music.

I believe John when he says that although Paul is more patient, he is the one to watch out for if you push him too far.
Those two are like a matched set, perfectly complimenting one another. They look beautiful together, sound beautiful together, and of course have created magnificent music together.

Young john and young paul look good together. They gaze affectionately with each other. You can sense it. Its like they have a secret way of communicating with each other

It blows my mind how good the lads were at improv comedy. So many of their interviews are absolute gold.

08:58 [Ken Dodd talking of the relatives they all visit when they go back home] "You've got your mam there, haven't you?" 😢That's a little shared moment of awkwardness and sorrow between John and Paul that the others just can't understand; they know immediately what each other is thinking.
Thank you, Breathless, for weaving together all these little moments of piercing insight. You tell the real story of this band and partnership better than anything else I've read/watched.

seeing john full of life in '67 is so sweet yet devastating

My personal humble opinion is that there were strong feelings involved, regardless of where on the platonic to not spectrum they fell. The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference and John and Paul never became indifferent. Even in the 10 years they were on shaky terms, they kept falling in and out of each others orbits. And nowadays, Paul McCartney sings his love song to John in each setlist. Even though, in my opinion, he cannot pull it off anymore and it usually sounds more like he is talking in a melodic way. Out of all the people he loved and lost, he is serenading John 43 years after his death... It could obviously come from profound regret of not being able to say goodbye and mourning the reunion that could never be. A few times Paul mentioned things that make me think he was repressed a little in those days where emotional expressions were involved. When he talks about seeing George before his death and holding and caressing his hand - which was something you didn't do with men back in the days. Or how he prefaces 'Here Today' with talking about how they didn't talk about loving each other and he regrets that. Oh sure, they knew they loved each other and did say 'I love you' but I think Paul is referring to a more serious stop-and-listen kind of expression and also reaffirming the love before death did them part.
And it's clear that Paul is more open about such things now. He seems to be quite soft with Ringo. There are few instances where they share a stage and they hug properly and Paul tells Ringo 'love you' and kisses his head. And since he had a chance to ferwell George, John remains the 'unfinished business'.
If there was anything even grazing the line of heteronormativity by any time period standards, we will never know. And as much I find some video compilations sweet, it is a slippery slope or assuming that any male friendship with tenderness and connection of hearts and minds must have romantic or se*xual elements to it. Men being soft with other men should not be a bait for asking for more.
And as much we can safely assume John Lennon was bi (at least in theory), there is nothing to suggest Paul ever wobbled in that direction. Unless there are things about their acid trips and other drunk shenanigans that we don't know about....
Anyway, the middle ground explanation would be that their connection was such they could not quite understand it themselves - so they wrote songs and sang. And maybe, MAYBE, the boundaries were confusing for them too? Like, they love each other and gravitate to each other above everyone else, there is this symbiosis and connection. And in those days, maybe things went unexpressed while the air of im"is this love or LOVE" lingered. Unresolved tension. And whether they ever toyed the line or not, we will never know for sure, unless Sir Paul writes a tell all deathbed confession memoire. If there is anything to tell, it will not come out from a 3rd party (if Ringo knows anything, he will take it to his grave too).
As a final thought, I was never much into the Beatles lore and such but even to my layman eyes, the narrative that came across was as if John Lennon had two cheif mourners - his actual widow and Paul.

I wonder how long it took for John to realize that the man that he allowed into his band and to be his partner, was the greatest singer of all the bands in the world

You could write an encyclopaedia on these two, their extraordinary lives, their friendship, their songwriting. The fact that every other musician and band knows they’ll never reach to what they achieved.
For my shot I’ll say, Lennon “was” the 1960s. No one defined that decade more than him. His songwriting was largely biographical and the unique surreal nature he created with his lyrics that influenced all modern songwriting to this day. He spoke for the young generation who saw him as their leader against the establishment and whose death the world never got over.
McCartney is the most successful musician of all time. From a humble loving family he was born into music, his gift for melodies helped him create timeless standards that sold in millions and his packed out concerts playing the huge crowd pleasing songs he created as earned him the title of the Mozart of Pop.
Both men were perfect foils for another. The wild, outspoken, rebellious dreamer and the career driven, focused optimist.

At 9:00 when Ken brings up his "mam" and then the host asks "how many of you have mams and dads there" the look on Pauls' faces tells a lot since both he and John had lost there "Mams" early on. What a dope that host was for not knowing that and asking that question. I'll bet he has regretted that question ever since.

9:41 “Who knows, at 40 we may not know how to write songs anymore.”

This breaks my heart because John was dead at 40 and Paul at age 40 wrote one of the saddest love songs ever written in honor of his musical soulmate.

I don’t have a fucking clue why I can’t stop crying when I listen to I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Maybe because it was all so innocent and beautiful then. They were SO young. That song to me is the quintessential Beatles song. It represents everything they were then. It was SO fucking beautiful.❤️💔😥

IT FEELS ILLEGAL TO WATCH THIS FOR FREE CONGRATS DUDE YOU MADE PURE ART 😤

The air head question with no research about mums and dads and Paul McCartney very diplomatically mumbling and waving hands in way to draw the attention away from the question and edge that says, "Don't push this" while acknowledging John. Genius handling of an interview. Ken Dodd also doing a great job in the interview.

I am just glad all four found each other. The world would be gloomy without them.

You are totally insane dude, but you're also a fucking legend. The devotion and research for making all of these are on another level

Just a quick comment: I’ve been a fan of the Beatles since I was barely in my teens. I have read innumerable volumes of books about each of them, and watch films and documentaries still to this day. My wife will come in and say ‘don’t you ever get tired of that?’ but I just laugh and say, I learn Something New (no pun intended) about them everyday. My sincere thanks to the creator of the ‘Understanding Lennon/McCartney’ series of documentaries. I am amazed at their quality and content. I have seen footage that I never knew existed and have learned things that completely amaze me. Ok, not such a quick comment, but again, thank you; it’s wonderful work you have performed here 🙏

The response John gives to the question at 31:52 gave chills up my spine.

Some people say that they dislike this documentary because it can come off as a romantic reading of John and Paul’s relationship.

Well… they’re right. It IS romantic, NOT SEXUAL, but romantic. Some people say they were platonic soulmates. I don’t know what word I would use to describe their relationship however. It was less than lovers but more than friendship. Like fate, and I don’t even believe in that otherwise.

In the end, no one really knows what their relationship was like except for them (well…… Paul). I think this analysis (from an outside perspective) is just as valid, or rather, invalid, as any other speculation of their relationship.

And If you don’t like this interpretation, you can buzz off.