10 Things You Didn't Know About The Beatles
4. John And Paul's Diss Tracks
It's no secret that relationships between the former Beatles were a bit rocky after the split - with Lennon and McCartney in particular trading jibes (not so subtlety) hidden within their solo projects.
McCartney released his second solo album, Ram, in 1971, which contained a number of references that seemed to poke at his former bandmates. Lennon didn't reacted too kindly, specifically finding fault with the track Too Little People in which McCartney made reference to Lennon and Yoko Ono's "preachy" behaviour during their activism days.
In response, Lennon wrote How Do You Sleep, with George Harrison contributing some killer slide guitar. Musically it's one of Lennon's more excellent solo numbers, but the lyrics lay bare the ugly feelings harboured towards his former creative partner. The line, "The only thing you done was yesterday" is a deliberate snide, indicating that McCartney's only contribution to The Beatles was the song Yesterday.
Lennon's original version was so inflammatory that during one session it caused Ringo (who was visiting) to exclaim, "That's enough now, John". Footage of these sessions also show Lennon sing the line, "How do you sleep, ya c**t".
Although the finished version was toned down, the digs are no less obvious.