'Massive' Beatles song that made Paul McCartney 'dejected' but John Lennon defended

John Lennon's relationship with Yoko Ono led to disagreements among The Beatles and the mood within the band was strained in the late 1960s. Yoko and John first met at an art exhibition in November 1966 and remained in touch, beginning a romantic relationship in 1968, while John was married to Cynthia Lennon.

Cynthia and John divorced in 1968 and he married Yoko a year later. Yoko and John were more than romantic partners - they recorded music as a pair (such as the experimental 1968 album 'Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins') and protested together.

However, John's fellow Beatles - particularly Paul McCartney and George Harrison - worried that his relationship with Yoko lessened his focus for their music. George and Paul did not like the fact that John brought Yoko into the studio as it upset their usual way of working.

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But John was besotted and Yoko became a driving force in his music, with him writing several songs about her during a period when creative differences and rows were threatening to dominate The Beatles’ recording sessions. One of those songs was 'The Ballad of John and Yoko', which Paul helped John record when their relationship - on both a professional and personal level - was at its lowest ebb.

‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’ was written by John about his relationship with Yoko and was released as a non-album single on May 30, 1969. Later that year, all four Beatles would work together in the studio for the final time as they finished another song written by John about Yoko.

'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' was written by John to express just how much he loved Yoko. The Beatles began rehearsing it during the 'Get Back' sessions and began recording it shortly after the filming for the 'Let it Be' documentary film concluded, as they started work on the album 'Abbey Road'.

The recording process for the song took around six months but its lyrics consist of just 14 words repeated in various ways. About it, John explained it was an almost primal declaration of love for Yoko.

He said to Rolling Stone magazine in 1970: "A reviewer wrote of 'She’s So Heavy': 'He seems to have lost his talent for lyrics, it’s so simple and boring.' 'She’s So Heavy' was about Yoko.

"When it gets down to it, like she said, when you’re drowning you don’t say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me', you just scream. And in 'She’s So Heavy' I just sang 'I want you, I want you so bad, she’s so heavy, I want you', like that."

Despite the simple lyrics, the song has a very brash finale, which has three minutes of overdubbed guitars from John and George. Engineer Jeff Jarratt explained: "John and George went into the far left-hand corner of (studio) number two to overdub those guitars. They wanted a massive sound so they kept tracking and tracking, over and over."

It seems, however, that Paul did not enjoy working on the song. John and George liked the idea of adding white noise to the track, which Paul believed threatened to overtake their instruments.

Engineer Geoff Emerick recalled that George asked him to increase the white noise, leaving Paul rather disheartened. About it, Geoff said: "Over my shoulder, I saw a dejected Paul sitting slumped over, head down, staring at the floor. He didn’t say a word, but his body language made it clear that he was very unhappy."

Geoff added: "To Paul, it must have been like ‘Revolution 9’ all over again. John was deliberately distorting The Beatles music, trying to turn the group into an avant-garde ensemble instead of a pop band."

The recording was finished on August 11, 1969 - the final day that all four Beatles spent in the studio together. The following month John told Ringo, George and Paul that he wanted a "divorce" from the band, essentially bringing their time together to an end.

'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' is viewed as a very influential track. Guitar World and Pitchfork have both said it laid the groundwork for heavy metal and Time Out said it was the foundation of 1970s 'stoner rock'.