<p id=”par-1_64″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/paul-mccartney/”>Paul McCartney</a> wrote “Hello, Goodbye” in 1967. The song became a non-album single and has endured as one of their better-known hits. At this stage in <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/the-beatles/”>The Beatles’</a> career, McCartney and John Lennon were writing separately, but McCartney still had a bit of help on the song. He was trying to teach songwriting to Alistair Taylor when he got the idea for “Hello, Goodbye.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-paul-mccartney-wrote-hello-goodbye-during-a-songwriting-lesson”>Paul McCartney wrote ‘Hello, Goodbye’ during a songwriting lesson</h2>
<p id=”par-2_61″>Taylor, who was the assistant to Beatles manager Brian Epstein, asked McCartney how he wrote songs. At this point, McCartney had become <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/how-many-songs-paul-mccartney-written.html/”>an incredibly prolific writer</a>. The Beatles were at their peak, and he had written countless hits for the band. McCartney took the question as an opportunity to give Taylor a songwriting lesson at the harmonium in his living room. </p>
<p id=”par-3_45″>He instructed Taylor to say the opposite of whatever he said: black, white; stop, go; yes, no. While Taylor couldn’t recall if McCartney came up with the melody on the spot, it was clear he had an idea of where he should take the song.</p>
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<p id=”par-4_72″>“I’ve no memory at all of the tune,” Taylor said, per the book <em><a href=”https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-hard-days-write-steve-turner/1112582134?ean=9780060844097″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>A Hard Day’s Write: The Stories Behind Every Beatles Song</a></em> by Steve Turner. “You have to remember that melodies are as common around the Beatles as bugs in May. Some grow into bright butterflies and others shrivel and die. I wonder whether Paul really made up that song as he went along or whether it was running through his head already.”</p>
<p id=”par-5_17″>Not long after, McCartney took the songwriting lesson and used it to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/paul-mccartney-said-the-beatles-hello-goodbye-deep-theme-universe.html/”>complete the song</a> “Hello, Goodbye.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_19″>“Anyway, shortly afterwards, he arrived at the office with a demo tape of the latest single — ‘Hello Goodbye.’”</p>
<p id=”par-7_12″>The Beatles released it as a single at the end of 1967.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-paul-mccartney-directed-a-promo-film-for-hello-goodbye”>Paul McCartney directed a promo film for ‘Hello, Goodbye’</h2>
<p id=”par-8_29″>While songwriting was nothing new for McCartney, “Hello, Goodbye” brought him a new experience. He directed a promotional film for the song, which was a unique challenge for him.</p>
<p id=”par-9_50″>“I directed the promo film we made for ‘Hello, Goodbye,’” he said in <em><a href=”https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beatles-anthology-the-beatles-the-beatles/1016797874″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>The Beatles Anthology</a></em>. “Directing a film is something that everyone always wants to get into. It was something I’d always been interested in, until I actually tried it. Then I realised it was too much like hard work.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_22″>Ultimately, McCartney said he didn’t have to do too much work, though. He tried to make the job as easy as possible.</p>
<p id=”par-11_59″>“I didn’t really <em>direct </em>the film — all we needed was a couple of cameras, some good cameramen, a bit of sound and some dancing girls,” he said. “I thought, ‘We’ll just hire a theatre and show up there one afternoon,’ And that’s what we did: we took our <em>Sgt. Pepper</em> suits along and filmed at the Saville Theatre in the West End.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-john-lennon-was-not-a-fan-of-the-song”>John Lennon was not a fan of the song</h2>
<p id=”par-12_38″>Taylor was impressed by the speed with which McCartney could put the song together. Lennon <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/john-lennon-said-the-beatles-hello-goodbye-smells-like-paul-mccartney-wrote.html/”>did not share the sentiment</a>. He wasn’t impressed by the song or McCartney’s attempt — though it was successful — to write a single.</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-2″><img decoding=”async” fetchpriority=”high” width=”1200″ height=”796″ src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?strip=all&quality=89″ alt=”A black and white picture of Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and John Lennon holding guitars. Ringo Starr sits at a drum set behind them.” class=”wp-image-3626979″ srcset=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg 1200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=150&h=100 150w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=640&h=425 640w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=768&h=509 768w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=1024&h=679 1024w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=528&h=350 528w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=255&h=169 255w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=200&h=133 200w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=764&h=507 764w, https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Beatles.jpg?w=90&h=60 90w” sizes=”(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px”><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>The Beatles | Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
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<p id=”par-13_57″>“That’s another McCartney. Smells a mile away, doesn’t it?” Lennon said in the book <em><a href=”https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/all-we-are-saying-david-sheff/1111372414?ean=9781250625069″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview With John Lennon and Yoko Ono</a></em> by David Sheff. “An attempt to write a single. wasn’t a great piece; the best bit was the end, which we all ad-libbed in the studio, where I played the piano.”</p>