John Lennon lyrics sell for record $1.2m

A double-sided sheet of paper covered in song lyrics written by
John Lennon has sold at auction for $1.2 million (£810,000).

The piece of paper, which was sold at Sotheby’s in New York, has the words to A Day In The Life scrawled across it, with changes clearly visible.

Macca wrote the record-breaking lyrics with Lennon

Most of the notes are written in blue ink and felt marker, though the corrections and assorted notations are penned in red allowing for an intriguing insight into Lennon’s thoughts and the song’s development.

The sale represents an auction record for a sheet of Beatles lyrics. In 2005 a sheet of paper with the All You Need Is Love lyrics on sold for $1 million (£655,450).

The buyer was an anonymous telephone bidder.

John Lennon wrote A Day In The Life with Paul McCartney. The song is the final track on the 1967 album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which won four Grammy Awards.

In 2005 a sheet with John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for I’m Only Sleeping failed to sell at auction.

The draft, which was written on the back of a phone bill, was expected to fetch more than £200,000 when it went under the hammer.