The ‘semi-autobiographical’ Beatles track John Lennon says is a ‘silly love song’

A song written by John Lennon was dubbed a “semi-autobiographical” piece by the legendary performer.

Lennon, who wrote the song during his time in The Beatles, says it’s just a “silly love song” that he pieced together during a period where he was heavily influenced by Bob Dylan. The song, which featured on the soundtrack album A Hard Day’s Night, was referred to by Lennon as a “silly love song” and noted by the Don’t Let Me Down songwriter as a precursor to another hit by the Paul McCartney and George Harrison-featuring band. Lennon said the song If I Fell was his first attempt at a “ballad proper”.

He said: “That was my first attempt at a ballad proper. That was the precursor to In My Life. It has the same chord sequences as In My Life — D and B minor and E minor, those kinds of things. It’s semi-autobiographical, but not consciously. “It shows that I wrote sentimental love ballads — silly love songs — way back when.”

McCartney would later praise Lennon for writing such a song. Speaking to Barry Miles for the Many Years from Now biography, the Wings frontman said: “People tend to forget that John wrote some pretty nice ballads. People tend to think of him as an acerbic wit and aggressive and abrasive, but he did have a very warm side to him, really, which he didn’t like to show too much in case he got rejected.”

Lennon also had a major appreciation for rock and roll, saying he would keep up with the charts even when he was not writing music. In 1968, he said: “What we’re trying to do is rock ‘n roll, ‘with less of your philosorock,’ is what we’re saying to ourselves. And get on with rocking because rockers is what we really are. It’s just natural. Everybody says we must do this and that, but our thing is just rocking. You know, the usual gig. That’s what this new record is about. Definitely rocking.”

But just three years later and his attitude to the genre had changed. He told Wenner he only listened to rock music when he needed to check what else was releasing at the time. Lennon said: “Only when I’m recording or about to bring something out I will listen [to the Top 10].

“Just before I record, I go buy a few albums to see what people are doing. Whether they have improved any, or whether anything happened. And nothing’s really happened. There’s a lot of great guitarists and musicians around, but nothing’s happening, you know.”

Lennon would then deride groups like Blood, Sweat & Tears, calling them “shit” before ripping into the genre as a whole. He said: “Rock ‘n’ roll is going like jazz, as far as I can see, and the bullsh*tters are going off into that excellentness which I never believed in.”