Paul McCartney And John Lennon, (1965) Photos Taken By David Bailey.

Paul McCartney and John Lennon, (1965) Photos taken by David Bailey.

“One of us might think of a song completely, and the other might just add a bit. Or we might write alternate lines. We never argue. If one of us says he doesn't like a bit, the other agrees. It just doesn't matter that much. I care about being a song writer, but I don't care passionately about each song.”

—Paul McCartney, 1966

“The way that Lennon and McCartney worked together wasn't the Rodgers-and-Hart kind of collaboration. It was more a question of one of them trying to write a song, getting stuck, and asking the other: 'I need a middle eight. What have you got?' They were both tunesmiths in their own right, and would help each other out as the need arose. ... But as they developed their art, each moved on to writing songs entirely on his own. Collaboration became rare, apart from the odd word or line; it was either a John Lennon song or a Paul McCartney song.”

—George Martin, All You Need Is Ears, 1979

“Paul and I made a deal when we were 15. There was never a legal deal between us, just a deal we made when we decided to write together that we put both our names on it, no matter what.”

-John Lennon

“We knew we were good. People used to say to us, 'Do you think John and you are good songwriters?' and I'd say— "Yeah it may sound conceited but it would be stupid of me to say 'No, I don't,' or 'Well, we're not bad' because we are good." Let's face it. If you were in my position, which was working with John Lennon, who was a great, great man — It's like that film 'Little Big Man.' He says, 'We wasn't just playing Indians, we was LIVIN' Indians.' And that's what it was. I wasn't just talking about it, I was living it. I was actually working with the great John Lennon, and he with me. It was very exciting.”

—Paul McCartney, 1988