John & Paul: A Love Story in Songs

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes themes of death, loss, grief, domestic conflict, and references to drug use.

“We think we know John and Paul; we really don’t. A popular narrative about the group and its central partnership emerged in the wake of the Beatles’ demise in 1970. […] A dualism took hold that has persisted ever since, with John presented as the creative soul of the Beatles, and Paul as his talented but facile sidekick.”

In the Prologue, Ian Leslie describes the myth that he seeks to interrogate via John & Paul. Instead of reaffirming the notion that John Lennon and Paul McCartney were oppositional forces, he sets out to trace the history of their marked kinship. He uses the first-person plural point of view in this passage to establish a bond with readers and to suggest that he’s no more an authority on Lennon and McCartney than the layperson. He is investigating their story and inviting readers to join him.

“Other than music and a pronounced suspicion of authority, John and Paul shared something else: they were walking wounded. Each, in his short life, had experienced jarring, alienating, soul-rending events that left permanent scars.”

Leslie claims that a major facet of Lennon and McCartney’s uncanny bond was their mutual encounters with loss. He uses language like “wounded,” “jarring,” “rending,” and “scars” to enact the intense experiences of sorrow the two experienced at a young age. Rather than tearing them apart, their parallel encounters with death and grief offered them a point of connection. This passage thus introduces Leslie’s theme of The Influence of Loss and Personal Experience on an Artist’s Identity.

“John and Paul will sing an opening phrase and the other will pick up on it, his face lighting up with a grin. There is a loose plan to make the album about the band’s musical roots, but the most important role of these run-throughs seems to be emotional. The songs remind them of what they have loved about playing together. The songs are sustenance.”

Leslie uses lyrical language to enact the emotionally resonant nature of Lennon and McCartney’s early music. He describes their physical responses to their music—noting how their faces changed as they work together—to convey the depth of their art.