Re -Train Your Brain To Happiness: John Lennon or Paul McCartney? 550 Matt Schichter Documentary Offers Answers

IT is pop music’s most polarising dilemma — Lennon or McCartney?

Canadian television personality Matt Schichter posed the question to 550 actors and musicians over a decade and has compiled the results in a 34 minute documentary.
He told them to answer the Beatles binary curveball in one word only.
Most of his interview subjects complied but some couldn’t help offering lengthy validations for their choice.Here it is:

Those on Team Lennon usually didn’t hesitate.

Many on Team McCartney felt compelled to explain themselves.

Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz opined for more than a minute as to why he rates McCartney over Lennon.

He gave the bespectacled Beatle props for his lyrics but cited McCartney’s enduring melodies as the key to his greatness.

“I don’t know how one guy wrote so many pieces of music that I can hum 50 years later,” Duritz said.

“I don’t know how that’s possible. And that to me is such a rare thing.”

Several musicians said they preferred McCartney because of his voice or pointed at Helter Skelter as evidence of his songwriting genius. It was written by McCartney but credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Jakob Dylan was among the 9 per cent of entertainers polled who had no answer or offered McLennon.

“I'm not answering that one. And I never engage in The Beatles versus The Stones. There’s room for all of them,” Dylan said.

Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann also sat on the fence.

“As individuals they are absolutely brilliant, together they are something else,” he said.

Rock’n’roll pioneer Bo Diddley didn’t rate either Beatle.

“Neither. I don’t understand what they’re doing. Never have,” he said.

Schichter didn’t intend to make a doco out of the poll responses he had gathered over a decade of interviews.

“Honestly, there was no rhyme or reason. Just thought it was an interesting/telling question and the acts might enjoy the compilation,” he said.

A sample of Team Lennon includes Aaron Paul, Arctic Monkeys, David Byrne, Florence Welch, Gary Oldman, Justin Bieber, Kevin Spacey, Lady Gaga, LL Cool J, Morgan Freeman. Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone, Sam Smith, Daniel Johns and Slash.

Those who answered McCartney included Dwayne Johnson, Ellie Goulding, Fall Out Boy, Franz Ferdinand, fun, Hanson, Selena Gomez, JJ Abrams, Katy Perry, Miss Piggy, Pete Townshend and Psy.

Personally, I am with Justin Long and pick George Harrison.

THE FINAL TALLY

Here were the most popular responses to Schichter’s decade-long poll:
John Lennon: 282
Paul McCartney: 196
No Answer: 50
George Harrison: 15
Ringo Starr: 4
Jimi Hendrix: 1
Lou Reed: 1
Oasis: 1 (That was from Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. We think he was joking)

By Kathy McCabe

With thanks to The Herald Sun