One Two Three Four Quotes

“Paul considered himself lovable; John believed himself unlovable.”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

“John was angular, slapdash, maudlin, difficult, lazy, dissonant, edgy, sardonic, pessimistic, solipsistic, sulky, cool, brutal”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

“Years later, he told a close friend he’d had sex of some sort with Brian, “once to see what it was like, the second time to make sure I didn’t like it”.”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

“John was in no mood for compromise; his intransigence towards Paul may also have been a way of subcontracting his own Oedipal struggles: ‘I was always saying, “Face up to your dad, tell him to fuck off. He can’t hit you. He’s an old man” … But Paul would always give in. His dad told him to get a job, he dropped the group and started working on the lorries, saying, “I need a steady career.” We couldn’t believe it. I told him on the phone, “Either come or you’re out.” So he had to make a decision between me and his dad …”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

“Together, the two boys conspired to upend their grief, to turn the wound into a weapon.”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

“Paul once tried to explain how the two of them had become what they were. ‘John, because of his upbringing and his unstable family life, had to be hard, witty, always ready for the cover-up, ready for the riposte, ready with the sharp little witticism. Whereas with my rather comfortable upbringing, a lot of family, a lot of people, very northern, “Cup of tea, love?”, my surface grew to be easy-going. Put people at their ease. Chat to people, be nice, it’s nice to be nice … Mentally, no one could say much to hurt me, whereas with John: his dad wasn’t home, so it was “Where’s yer dad, you bastard?” And his mother lived with somebody and that was called “living in sin” in those days, so there was another cheap shot against him. John had a lot to guard against, and it formed his personality; he was a very guarded person … He had massive hang-ups from his upbringing.”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

“For young people, long hair came to symbolise freedom, even happiness. ‘If my hair seems a little on the long side it’s because the idea became implanted in my brain at a very early age: long hair equals happiness.”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time

“A Day in the Life’ lasts 5 minutes 34 seconds. It had taken, in all, thirty-four hours to record. Four years earlier, the entire recording of the Beatles’ first album, Please Please Me, was all done and dusted in a day.”
― Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time