The Beatles Book : 103

Diss tracks?!

Today's topic of conversation is how we'll be talking about one of the very first 'diss tracks' written by the famous lennon-McCartney, (separate of course because..they're diss tracks against each other)

1) Too many people - Paul McCartney and Wings

[Intro]
(Piss off cake) = paul opens the song with a pun, which also a dig at John

[Verse 1]
Too many people going underground = This can easily be interpreted as a dig towards John Lennon and Apple Corp. Towards the end of his Beatle days, Lennon was inspired by Yoko Ono to delve further and further into the emerging underground avant-garde world.

Too many reaching for a piece of cake= This can easily be interpreted as a dig towards John Lennon and Apple Corp. Towards the end of his Beatle days, Lennon was inspired by Yoko Ono to delve further and further into the emerging underground avant-garde world.

Too many people pulled and pushed around
Too many waiting for that lucky break

[Chorus 1]
That was your first mistake
You took your lucky break and broke it in two
Now what can be done for you?
You broke it in two= This was the part of the song that irked Lennon, since it implies he had destroyed the one success he had in life—namely, meeting Paul and them forming the Beatles together. He eventually responded with the much less carefully-worded "How Do You Sleep?"

[Verse 2]
Too many people sharing party lines
Too many people never sleeping late
Too many people paying parking fines
Too many hungry people losing weight= Conversely to most human beings, John got skinnier and more scrawny with age :(

[Chorus 1]
That was your first mistake
You took your lucky break and broke it in two= Paul telling John he screwed up their lucky break by splitting up The Beatles
Now what can be done for you?
You broke it in two
[Verse 3]
Too many people preaching practices
Don't let them tell you what you want to be= I felt John and Yoko were telling everyone what to do. And I felt we didn't need to be told what to do. The whole tenor of the Beatles thing had been, like, each to his own. Freedom. Suddenly it was "You should do this." It was just a bit the wagging finger, and I was pissed off with it. So that one got to be a thing about them.
- Paul McCartney, Mojo, 2001

Too many people holding back
This is crazy and, baby, it's not like me

[Chorus 2]
That was your last mistake
I find my love awake and waiting to be
Now what can be done for you?
She's waiting for me= A jibe towards Lennon and Yoko Ono as a couple. Many detractors accused them of being pretentious, and that Ono "broke up" The Beatles by stealing Lennon from the rest of the band.

Paul hits back at this by referencing the fact that he also met his soulmate in the late sixites – the late Linda McCartney. It wasn't just Lennon who had a love to be content with

I understood the song lyrics because they're pretty self explanatory (for me) but I search up the definitions because I'm just not...that good with explaining stuff!! 🤷‍♀️

2) How do you sleep at night? - John Lennon

Yes, the very much song directed right at Paul, with the lyric "a pretty face May last a year or two" which I find hilarious, honestly! 🤣

On with the show..

[Verse]
So Sgt. Pepper took you by surprise= John is calling Paul out on his humblebragging. Or, he might me referencing to the 'faul' theories on the album cover.
You better see right through that mother's eyes= John believes that Paul pretends things are OK, even when he hates you. If he is willing to lie and say Sgt. Pepper was "surprisingly successful," he is also likely to publicly critique John – so he says they're cool, but if you could get in Paul's head you would know the extent to which he loathes John.
The feeling is mutual; John calls Paul a "mother," short for "Mother-F–er"*, which is pretty severe condemnation
Those freaks was right when they said you was dead= I think we all know this refers to the once again, Paul is dead theory
The one mistake you made was in your head= A reference to Too Many People of McCartney's album Ram which features the lines That was your first mistake and That was your last mistake, which are both directed at Lennon
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?= The Lennon-McCartney dispute started after the Beatles manager Brian Epstein died in 1967, and Paul McCartney wanted his impending brother-in-law to become the new manager while all other Beatles wanted Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein
You live with straights who tell you you was king= Claiming McCartney deliberately associates with sycophants that feed his ego
Jump when your momma tell you anything= Calling McCartney a mothers' boy is slightly hypocritical on Lennon's part. Like McCartney he lost his mother as a teenager, but unlike McCartney the death of his mother was a major cause of insecurity for Lennon until he found love with Yoko Ono (see Julia and Mother for examples of Lennon's mother issues).
Also a jab at "Let it Be", in which Paul recounts a dream he had about his mother. In an interview, John discussed how Paul missed his mother, and refused to do virtually anything his Dad disapproved of (even with regard to 'drainpipe trousers'!). "And his dad was always trying to get me out of the group behind me back, I found out later. He'd say to George, 'Why don't you get rid of John, he's just a lot of trouble. Cut your hair nice and wear baggy trousers,' like I was the bad influence because I was the eldest."
The only thing you done was yesterday= The McCartney composition "Yesterday" was McCartney's first great song, and written when the Beatles were still together. John is simultaneously saying that Paul is a has-been, and rubbishing most of his catalogue
And since you're gone you're just another day= Referring to the hit 'another day' which Paul has made after the Beatles
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

[Bridge]
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

[Outro]
A pretty face may last a year or two= Paul has been always noted as the 'prettiest or handsomest' Beatle, but y'know that wouldn't last much!
But pretty soon they'll see what you can do= Here, John is saying that the critics and Paul's fans alike will begin to realize he is no longer composing songs as great as he used to
The sound you make is muzak to my ears= Near the end of Paul's career with the Beatles, he was making more and more sentimental, lush songs, that Lennon derided as "granny music", and here seems to be comparing it to Muzak, a type of bland instrumental music that is also known as elevator music
You must have learned something in all those years= after 10 years in the Beatles, you still haven't learnt to make good music
Ah, how do you sleep?
Ah, how do you sleep at night?

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That's enough for our long lyric digging chapter! This isn't meant to be taken as an offence, because they both were on good terms throughout the end of John's life, (don't believe everything you read, children! About them being bland  towards each other)

Just saying that these two are my favourite songs so, I don't hate them or anything of that sort.

;))