Lennon knew that the song would go over the heads of intellectuals who had a worldview which denied the possibility of transcendence. To counter this, he made a point of explaining how the song’s title had a double meaning. On the one hand, the phrase ‘All You Need Is Love’ suggests that love is the only important thing. This was an interpretation that he knew overly literal critics would take issue with, claiming that you need other things as well such as food, shelter and money. For those critics, the second meaning kicked in. These were people who are smart, sophisticated and proud of their
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