Mythology

The BBC on how John Lennon was made into a myth. I'd guess the flip answer is that he was violently assassinated at a young age; if it had happened to Paul, he'd have become the myth. Carry on:

“Soon after Lennon's death – within hours, really  –  he was portrayed in this really sanctimonious, sanitised way that doesn't do justice to his personality, his sense of humour, or his fellow Beatles,” says Rob Sheffield, a writer for Rolling Stone magazine and the author of the 2017 book Dreaming The Beatles. "I always loved what Paul said in the 80s: 'Since his death he's become Martin Luther Lennon.'"

"It's understandable that in the first flush of grief, people wanted to pretend he was a saint, but that's the last claim Lennon ever would have made for himself," says Sheffield. "In addition to everything else he was, he was the most caustic, sarcastic, withering wit in the music world. So it sells him short to portray him as a simple-minded optimist."

Again, there is something to dying first. Unfortunately, it was Paul who took the brunt of it: 

And as for the impact the Lennon myth has had on the surviving Beatles? Sheffield says that the posthumous canonisation of Lennon after his death was to the detriment of Paul, Ringo, and George. "The view of Lennon that developed sold the other Beatles short, because they were the ones who knew and loved the real John," he says. "After his death people took their grief out on Paul in a really vicious and unfair way. Nobody had a kind word for Paul for years after, and it’s just because people wanted to make a saint out of his bandmate."

Of course this is something I've touched on for decades:

I've always been pissed at how because he got shot, he became a martyr, while Paul became the "pussy Beatle", a "lightweight fop." In a lot of people's eyes John IS the Beatles, which is totally ridiculous. Paul could have a tendency to get a bit mawkish at times (one song about your sheepdog is one too many, Paul), but he also CRANKED plenty - witness his bone-shivering cover of "Long Tall Sally", or his heavy metal "Helter Skelter." On the very same day he recorded "Yesterday", Paul also ran through his Little Richardesque number "I'm Down", so don't tell me he's a pussy (it was his 23rd birthday, and he ALSO birthed the genre of country-rock wih "I've Just Seen a Face" - quite a fucking day. jesus.) John and Paul were both great because of each other. Yes, John probably helped Paul steer from his sentimental show tune side sometimes, but Paul also kept John from completely going off the deep end too early with his "artsy primal scream feeling songs" - or, as I call them, "crap." So everyone, drop the Lennon is the Jesus Beatle and Paul sucked nonsense. Open your ears, listen to the albums and love them both.

"Oh, that Marmaduke...whatever IS that naughty dog up to today???!!!"