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[lennonista]

To address the question of Paul's sincerity, this song has always struck me as ironic because, despite its obvious religious/Christian connotations, Paul is the only one of the Beatles who has consistently called himself an agnostic. In fact, I believe that he has described the extent of his religious conviction as some sort of nebulous feeling that there is "some sort" of a force and that Linda and John are out there "somewhere." (Doubtless, one of you will procure a quote that will prove me wrong...)

Anyway, despite that irony... and despite the fact that Let It Be is pure Paul cornballness ("and when the broken-hearted people living in the world agree" ), I still think it is a lovely song. Beautiful tune, simple message... and, yes, sometimes the wisest thing we can do is just "let it be."

...and "You Know My Name" ~ cut 'em some slack. They gave us so much for so long. They were entitled....

[SemolinaPilchard]

I think Let It Be is a beautiful song. I guess I've always been a sucker for Paul's ballads. I love the guitar solo too.

[Bobber]

It never touched me. But I recognize its meaning.

[Kevin]

Paul is the only one of the Beatles who has consistently called himself an agnostic. In fact, I believe that he has described the extent of his religious conviction as some sort of nebulous feeling that there is "some sort" of a force and that Linda and John are out there "somewhere." (Doubtless, one of you will procure a quote that will prove me wrong...)

   Paul also said that he thought a hooting owl outside his window was the spirit of George Harrison, telling him a song was okay. But then again he had an album to shift and no doubt evoking the image of other beatles helped him shift a few more units. Never take stoners too seriously.

[cubanheel]

Harsh comment kevin!!^^but I laughed.

I think the reason they put such a totally pants song on as b side to LIB was that self-mocking insinct that so many Brits have. Hey look guys, we've done something that everyone will think is really good, better mock ourselves before anyone else does!

LIB in my opinion (and after all that's what we're here for isn't it) is Paul not trying hard enough. He often does these songs that kind of mean something vague and big and deep , and are a bit universal, but they frustrate on close analysis because there's not a lot there after all. I often feel he's a clever kid who knocked out some homework that was only good because he's clever and gets away with it, rather than cos he worked at it. Not very well expressed for an opinion but I'm meant to be somewhere else at the mo, so am rushing this post!
I think the spiritual element is at least half there because of the churchy kind of musical feel. It's as much to do with the sound as the words. Oh and he had to namedrop in Mary as well. Tho my kids pop his pompous bubble by singing about Goldilocks and the 3 bears:  Mother Bear she comforts me , they sing loudly to block out the real words, and carry on about porridge.

Maybe I'm Amazed, for example,  shows that Paul could 'feel it' for real, he could express deep  held feelings and he could combine lyric and music to powerful but specifically meaningful result. It's a song you can understand exactly what he means, whereas LIB is more general and vague.

I do like LIB though, specially when those big eyes look into mine and he sings it just for me.......

[nyfan(41)]

great comment cubanheel (re. maybe im amazed)
.
.
some people i know who dont speak english have some 'best of' beatles cd's.
they love l.i.b. - it's incredibly catchy and a straight out hit !
.
.
@you know my name - brian jones on saxaphone ?!? cool !

[Hombre_de_ningun_lugar]

[tkitna]

LIB in my opinion (and after all that's what we're here for isn't it) is Paul not trying hard enough. He often does these songs that kind of mean something vague and big and deep , and are a bit universal, but they frustrate on close analysis because there's not a lot there after all. I often feel he's a clever kid who knocked out some homework that was only good because he's clever and gets away with it, rather than cos he worked at it.

Awesome. Well said.

[nyfan(41)]

just listened again
the single version features linda on backing vocals - what's that about
john plays bass.
billy preston can't be overlooked
ringo and george deliver as usual !!
.
the lyrics are like a fill in the blank hallmark card but paul is such a soulful vocalist it really doesn't matter what he says
.
speaking of soul . .
i'm not much for new music but jenifer hudson owns this

let it be jennifer hudson

[nyfan(41)]

ok, i listened to jennifer hudson again - her voice is so true
when she says 'mother mary comes to me and says daughter let it be'?
if you didn't know, jennifer's mom (and brother) were shot dead by her sister's extranged husband the other year
that's deep
.
paul is not hallmark card in his lyrics
he told the world - even though its a religious sounding song, that's not virgin mary, that is HIS mother who came to him in a dream.
so it's like he's saying he lost his mom but she's still with him
this is the song for people who lost their mom
.
compare that to john's solo 'mother you had me but i never had you' - which is more like an intellectualized play on words
.
i love this song! rest in peace Mary McCartney . .(and Julia and Jennifer's mom Darnell) 

[An Apple Beatle]

this is the song for people who lost their mom

It certainly went on when I lost mine....that's for sure.

[Hello Goodbye]

I like Let It Be more today than I did when it was released.  At the time, it was hard to relate to this song considering the war in Viet Nam and everything else going on in the life of a nineteen year old.  At one point, I viewed this song as The Beatles' "swan song" and accepted it as such.  I was resigned to the fact that there would be no more Beatles records.    And then came The Beatles Again album.  

[lennonista]

I asked my 77 year-old dad to name any Beatles song and he said I Wanna Hold Your Hand. (That's what I would have guessed.)

I asked my 51 year-old cousin who grew up in a non English-speaking country halfway across the globe the same question... he said "Let It Be."

I dunno if that means anything. But I think it kind of does. 

[AngeloMysterioso]

I asked my 77 year-old dad to name any Beatles song and he said I Wanna Hold Your Hand. (That's what I would have guessed.)

I asked my 51 year-old cousin who grew up in a non English-speaking country halfway across the globe the same question... he said "Let It Be."

I dunno if that means anything. But I think it kind of does. 

Yeah. Being 52 myself, I remember very specifically the times that surrounded the last Beatles 45 RPM… it also meant something like the end of a dream, men had set foot on the moon and everyone was asking what’s next… much more than when it all began.

[Kevin]

I dunno if that means anything. But I think it kind of does. 

Yes. It means you know at least two people who can name Beatle songs.   

[nimrod]

In Lennon's Playboy interview in 1980, he disavowed any involvement with composing the song.

“ That's Paul. What can you say? Nothing to do with the Beatles. It could've been Wings. I don't know what he's thinking when he writes "Let It Be". I think it was inspired by "Bridge over Troubled Waters".  That's my feeling, although I have nothing to go on. I know that he wanted to write a "Bridge over Troubled Waters"

But as Ian MacDonald explained, Lennon is wrong about "Bridge over Troubled Water" being McCartney's inspiration: "Let It Be" was recorded approximately a year before "Bridge over Troubled Water" was released, and half a year before the latter was written.

Got the above from Wiki..

So John slagging the song off but on Antholgy 3 he says (after the song)  "I think that was rather grand. I'd take one home with me" so John was actually contradicting himself, presumably to get at Paul, although I didnt think he was doing that in 1980.

Obviously there are a few versions of LIB but my firm favourite is the Spector album one which has much more prominent orchestration and the heavier guitar solo, Ive never been keen on the chorus pedal laden 'tame' solo on the single version.

I actually love the song, I think its magnificent and I love the B side, although I can see that thats a 'love or hate' song  

[Mairi]

Harsh comment kevin!!^^but I laughed.

I think the reason they put such a totally pants song on as b side to LIB was that self-mocking insinct that so many Brits have. Hey look guys, we've done something that everyone will think is really good, better mock ourselves before anyone else does!

LIB in my opinion (and after all that's what we're here for isn't it) is Paul not trying hard enough. He often does these songs that kind of mean something vague and big and deep , and are a bit universal, but they frustrate on close analysis because there's not a lot there after all. I often feel he's a clever kid who knocked out some homework that was only good because he's clever and gets away with it, rather than cos he worked at it. Not very well expressed for an opinion but I'm meant to be somewhere else at the mo, so am rushing this post!
I think the spiritual element is at least half there because of the churchy kind of musical feel. It's as much to do with the sound as the words. Oh and he had to namedrop in Mary as well. Tho my kids pop his pompous bubble by singing about Goldilocks and the 3 bears:  Mother Bear she comforts me , they sing loudly to block out the real words, and carry on about porridge.

Maybe I'm Amazed, for example,  shows that Paul could 'feel it' for real, he could express deep  held feelings and he could combine lyric and music to powerful but specifically meaningful result. It's a song you can understand exactly what he means, whereas LIB is more general and vague.

I do like LIB though, specially when those big eyes look into mine and he sings it just for me.......

Interesting observations, but I don't think that being vague is necessarily a bad thing. Paul has an interesting style of writing, which sometimes comes off as impersonal. I often find myself wondering what Paul was trying to say when he wrote a certain song, but the thing is, only Paul knows exactly what any one song is about. I think his skill lies in taking something (an experience, a feeling) that is deeply personal to him, and then writing about it in such a way that people can take different things from it, and apply it to their own lives. Then of course he sometimes writes pure sh*te. But that's Paul for you.

[Whoeveriam]

It don't really sound that great, I mean they're doing their thing very well and it's built a bitter sweet reputation as 'the last one' but it was time to get rid of themselves as Beatles and get shot of the recordings and that shoddy picture.

[Joost]

Interesting observations, but I don't think that being vague is necessarily a bad thing. Paul has an interesting style of writing, which sometimes comes off as impersonal. I often find myself wondering what Paul was trying to say when he wrote a certain song, but the thing is, only Paul knows exactly what any one song is about. I think his skill lies in taking something (an experience, a feeling) that is deeply personal to him, and then writing about it in such a way that people can take different things from it, and apply it to their own lives.

I couldn't agree more. I don't like lyrics that are too specific. I just hate it when I hear I song, and for the first two verses I'm like, "Wow, this song could've been about me", and then in the third verse it gets all specific by mentioning a name or something, and it just ruins it for me. The best lyrics are the one that leave some room for personal interpretation.