In the wake of the Beatles splitting, John Lennon (with the help of wife Yoko) was crafting songs about tormented child-parent relationships, psychological suffering, religion, working-class heroes, God, Jesus, Adolf Hitler, dope and cocaine.
These subjects formed his 1970 masterpiece, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
Paul McCartney (with the help of wife Linda) was busy creating a home-baked masterpiece of his own: RAM. Despite the two albums being chalk and cheese, I consider them two of the greatest ever made.
In typical McCartney fashion and in contrast to his former songwriting partner, Paul opted for less controversial and emotionally straining subjects.
A range of domestic matters surrounding him and his family on his farm in Scotland were the subjects of his lyrics:
RAM is just over 43 minutes of homely domestic bliss. There's the hand-drawn album sleeve featuring the family photo collection. We hear songs about McCartney's love of animals in Heart Of The Country. Plus, love songs about his "long-haired lady", Linda.
Farmyard and domestic animals aside, some of McCartney's lyrics have a deeper meaning. Some are pretty cutting. There's the opening line, "piss off, cake" (the "cake" being Yoko Ono). Plus, digs at the peace-promoting couple: "too many people preaching practices, don't let them tell you what you wanna be".
"That was your first mistake; you took your lucky break and broke it in two", sings McCartney as he berates his fellow former Beatle. One can presume that Lennon's "lucky break" was The Beatles and the chance to write with McCartney.
Despite John Lennon believing many songs on RAM were directed at him and Ono, McCartney later claimed he only aimed Too Many People at the couple.
There was, however, a more obvious reference: a photo of two beetles mating on the back cover. This pic represented how McCartney felt that the other Beatles were 'screwing' him over.
Amidst the war of words between Lennon and McCartney, conducted via the press, Lennon's responses to McCartney's dig were scathing. These much more apparent attacks made McCartney's look very subtle indeed: How Do You Sleep? from Imagine.
It's a whole track where Lennon launches a tirade of abuse at McCartney. The postcard inside the album features Lennon pulling the ears of a pig — an obvious mickey-take of the front cover of RAM.
McCartney later recorded a peace offering in his follow-up album, Wild Life, in Dear Friend. The pair eventually got talking again before Lennon's untimely death in 1980.
Taken to the slaughter by music critics and John Lennon, RAM didn't stand much chance in 1971. But 47 years later, it's still alive and as wild as ever.
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