Paul McCartney Wrote A Poem About John Lennon’s Killer

A global outpouring of sorrow and mourning occurred after John Lennon was murdered by Mark Chapman in 1980. Fans, family, and friends of Lennon, including Paul McCartney, have mourned the loss of the legend.

McCartney has said that he thinks about Lennon every day, and the ever-creative Macca once penned a heartfelt and tense poem called “Jerk of All Jerks” about Chapman. The poem was published in McCartney’s 2001 book Blackbird Singing.

“This poem is kind of serious,” Paul wrote as an explanation behind its story. “Because the title of the poem came to me the day John got shot and after all the tears and the horror of the whole thing in the evening, the phrase that kept going through in my head about the guy who done it was ‘Jerk Of All Jerks’.”

McCartney’s statements clearly reveal his rage, and he argues that Chapman’s decision to kill Lennon was pointless. His opinion of Chapman is that of the world’s biggest jerk, and he draws parallels between Chapman and other people who act irrationally without thinking things through. You can read the poem below.

 

Jerk Of All Jerks

by: Paul McCartney

I’m a motorist that quite

Likes a drink when he drives

Who causes the loss

Of innocent lives

 

I’m the guy with the pistol

Who kills your best friend

You can’t really blame me

‘Cos I’m round the bend

 

Hello—how are you?

I’m jerk of all jerks

I’m here to undo

All your charitable works

I do it quite simply by

Making mistakes

And one little boo-boo

Is all that it takes

And you’re at the mercy of

Jerk of all jerks.

 

I’m the man that disposes

Of nuclear waste.

There’s no need to worry

It’s perfectly safe

 

In fact there is now

Every reason to hope

That if anything happens

I’ll easily cope

 

Hello—how are you?

I’m jerk of all jerks…

 

I’m the leader who says

As he wages his war

That the children are not

Ones that he’s aiming for

 

Hello,

How are you?

I’m jerk of all jerks…