Yoko and Linda Derangement Syndrome

Q: What do you call a dog with Wings?

A: Linda McCartney

Classy, huh?

Someone used this as an icebreaker with me when he learned that I worship Paul McCartney. I don’t think he got the reaction he thought he would. At all.

The vitriol spewed at Yoko Ono Lennon and Linda Eastman McCartney never ceases to amaze — and disgust — me. People that consider themselves Beatlemaniacs should, quite frankly, know better.

Worst of all, this word vomit spews from the mouths of grown-ass adults. Senior citizens, even. It’s incredibly jejune to place blame on John and Paul’s wives for the Beatles’ disbanding. The group’s dissolution had been inevitable since August 1967, when Brian Epstein died. The Beatles knew this. Why don’t you?

John and Paul were only 28 and 27 when the Beatles disbanded. They were still very young men, at the age when many people settle down, get married, and start families. As men grow older, they generally spend less time with the boys and more with their wives and kids. It’s a normal progression for many dudes in their mid-20s, especially back in the 1960s.

I think people sometimes forget the Fabs were normal people and not demi-gods. They had the same craving for connection and family that any of us have.

To denigrate John or Paul’s choice of mate is presumptuous at best, cruel at worst. The vitriol directed at Beatle spouses, especially Yoko and Linda, springs from jealousy and misplaced abandonment issues. Let’s be real. You were never going to marry or even hang out with John or Paul. They were under no obligation to put their lives on hold just because you clutched the Beatles like your childhood blankie. These men had every right to start new lives with the women they loved, just like anyone else.

Yoko, and to a lesser extent Linda, were accused of being manipulative, calculating, and physically ugly. I’ve never been famous, but it’s a pretty safe bet that complete strangers claiming to be my fans while attacking my spouse wouldn’t be high on my perks-of-stardom list. Especially in Yoko’s case where most of the haters were, and are, closet racists.

Even over 50 years later, this shit is still a thing. Beatlemaniacs who supposedly revere John’s memory don’t think twice about attacking his elderly widow, whose only crimes were falling in love with a Beatle and making him happy.

It took a lot of grit to marry a Fab. Cynthia Lennon and Pattie Boyd describe being a Beatle wife during the height of their fame in their memoirs(which I highly recommend, by the way.) The perks do sound heavenly (travel, money, beautiful homes) but the price these women paid, especially the loss of privacy, was considerable. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that all of the Fabs' significant others during Beatlemania ended up as exes.

Yoko and Linda didn’t show up until the fat lady was already singing. They couldn’t break something that was already broken. And if John and Paul hadn’t chosen them, it would’ve been two other women. No matter who coupled up with a Beatle in 1969, they were going to take a world of shit for it.

It happened to be Yoko and Linda filling those roles. fact is, they were the muses for two of the most celebrated musicians of all time. If you love the music, you should also appreciate the inspiration that lit their creative spark. If you lack that ability for whatever reason, do us all a favor and keep it to yourself.