However, Paul McCartney’s ownership over “And I Love Her” wasn’t always as evident as it is today. In the years following the breakup of the Beatles, the song became the subject of much speculation as to John Lennon’s potential creative input. Again, this may be put down to the mystification of much of the Beatles’ catalog as a result of the “Lennon-McCartney” writing credit.
Per Beatles Music History, “And I Love Her” quickly became a fan favorite when it was first released. The ballad featured both on “A Hard Day’s Night” and in the accompanying movie, a simmering love song that contrasted boldly with much of the other material on the album and heralded a new stage of songwriting maturity. Years later, journalists were still asking the Fab Four about the song. In 1972, Lennon told a journalist that, while the majority of “And I Love Her” had been written by McCartney at the home of Jane Asher’s parents, he was the composer of the deeply moving middle-eight, beginning with the line “A love like ours…”
McCartney took exception to Lennon claiming whole ownership of the passage. In 1980, Lennon backed down, saying instead that he had “helped” with the middle-eight, rather than saying it was “mine.” Per the same source, the middle-eight came about in the studio, at the behest of the Beatles’ longtime producer George Martin and the publisher Dick James, who both thought the song was “repetitive” and asked for some variation. McCartney, with Lennon’s help, finished the song off during a tea break.
