Afternoons were whiled away playing guitars to records, singing, reveling in the joy of chords, finding out how almost every rock song they knew could be played with C, F and G or G7.

The Beatles did everything with down-to-earth humor, honesty, optimism, style, charisma, irreverence, intelligence, and a particularly spiky disdain for falseness.

John Lennon was everything his friends wanted to be, and said everything they wanted to say but wouldn’t dare. John Lennon always dared.

And so Lennon-McCartney stood shoulder to shoulder as equals, connected at every level, their considerable talents harmonized, their personalities meshed, their drive unchecked, their goal in focus. They were a union, stronger than the sum of their parts, and everything was possible.

John Lennon was everything his friends wanted to be, and said everything they wanted to say but wouldn't dare. John Lennon always dared.