By The Beatles’ later period, their lyricism had descended into mostly nonsense. While their early work dealt with the relatable feelings of love, heartache, and longing that govern rock and roll, their more experimental offerings towards the end of their existence as a group were mostly ruled over by fictional tales, strange characters, and made-up worlds. It seemed as if the band pulled more and more of their own selves from their music the more famous and recognised they became, seeking some level of privacy. But on one of John Lennon’s last songs written within the band, Paul McCartney could see just how personal it was.
At the end of the band’s story, the Let It Be sessions were one big, emotional finale. As all the members were looking for a way out of the group, their attempt to do one last project as a unit was always going to be a demanding experience, rife with difficult emotions. It was a moment where the band was not only mourning the end of this portion of their careers but also mourning their friendships as they once knew them, with even their personal relationships being stretched and frayed.
That also led to their lyrics becoming more impersonal as time went on, as if the atmosphere of sharing and confiding within the group had diminished to a point where it didn’t feel comfortable to truly let each other in. Instead, they wrote songs like ‘Get Back’ or ‘Dig A Pony’ with made-up characters or nonsensical phrases, or they worked on tracks like ‘Let It Be’ or ‘Across The Universe’, both dealing with McCartney and Lennon’s grief which they’d both navigated together as teens, so was a fundamental cornerstone of their friendship.
But in another song, McCartney noticed the emotional core in Lennon’s lyricism in the way that only an old friend could. Even as Lennon attempted to wrap it up as a catchy rock song, his friend knew that it was coming from a deep place as he sang over and over, “Don’t let me down”.
In the end, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ was cut from Let It Be, but it was crafted during those sessions and was performed at their famed rooftop concert. On the service, it appears to be a love song with one partner calling to their lover, asking them not to let them down and stick by them. But for McCartney, knowing the context of Lennon’s life at the time of writing the track, it went deeper than that, becoming representative of the musician at a breaking point.
“It was a very tense period: John was with Yoko and had escalated to heroin and all the accompanying paranoia, and he was putting himself out on a limb,” McCartney said of the song’s context. Lennon, just like the rest of the band, was preparing to jump ship from the Beatles and attempt to start something new. It was a bold move for all of them, but as Lennon and Ono’s drug use was ramping up, that seemed to exacerbate the nervous energy. “I think that as much as it excited and amused him, and the same time it secretly terrified him,” McCartney continued.
With so much at stake and so much up in the air regarding the future, McCartney saw the song as a message from his friend to Ono, making it clear that he needed stability within their love to navigate this moment. He explained, “So ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ was a genuine plea… It was saying to Yoko, ‘I’m really stepping out of line on this one. I’m really letting my vulnerability be seen, so you must not let me down.’”
Even though the track was left off the album, McCartney always liked the song because of the honesty and vulnerability he saw within it. He said, “I think it was a genuine cry for help. It was a good song.”
Lennon himself admitted that ‘Don’t Let Me Down’ was, in fact, a cry for help during a period of intense stress and worry. He said, “When it gets down to it, when you’re drowning, you don’t say, “I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,” you just scream.” So, with each big chorus and repetition, the song is Lennon’s scream, begging his love to stick by him while times were hard.
