Perhaps I worded things rather clumsily... by "lagging behind" I meant, for example, that "Here There And Everywhere" has a Rubber Soul feel to it, and "For No One" and "Good Day Sunshine" (not very "Revolver-ish") are, to my mind, quite conventional, straight laced and old fashioned.
Yes, I can see that also. The way I look at it is that John and George were moving to be more experimental where Paul was falling into his own groove and improving upon familiar areas where he felt comfortable. Without taking too much away from 'Here There & Everywhere' and 'For No One', I feel that Paul could write songs like these all day long. They are nice enough songs and well done, but nothing that causes the casual listener or even Beatle fan to sit up and take notice. I think we're on the same page for the most part Mr.M.
I agree that "Eleanor Rigby" and "Got To Get You Into My Life" are two of the very best cuts on the album.... then again, "Good Day Sunshine" and "Yellow Submarine" - also McCartney songs - are the weakest.
Its pretty clear that I have more tolerance for 'Good Day Sunshine' and 'Yellow Subamarine' than you do and thats perfectly ok. 'GDS' makes me feel happy when I hear it. It has an up tempo and I cant beat it up for what it is, which is a fairly simple pop tune. Maybe its not a great fit on Revolver, but its never bothered me being there either. I think it brings the album up some. 'YS',,,we'll just skip over this song for now. It is what it is.
Paul seems to be going in one direction whereas John, George and even Ringo are heading in the other. Significantly "She Said She Said" - which just might be my very favourite on this album - apparently doesn't feature Paul at all.
Agreed and he still didnt stray very far on Peppers with songs like 'She's Leaving Home' and 'When I'm 64'. John (and even George) were definatly the psychedelic song writers where Paul liked to stay closer to pop and ballads. I have a hard time thinking of any Paul songs being actual pysch ones to be honest. Thats alright though.