The Lyrics

by Paul McCartney (Editor), Luca Perasi (Translator), Franco Zanetti (Translator)

"Alcune persone, quando arrivano a una certa età, ricorrono a un diario per ricordare giorno per giorno il loro passato, ma io non ho taccuini di questo genere. Quel che ho sono le mie canzoni – centinaia –, che però svolgono la stessa funzione."
È così che inizia The Lyrics, questo libro straordinario in cui Paul McCartney racconta la sua vita e la sua musica attraverso centocinquantaquattro canzoni accompagnate da appunti e commenti intimi. Due volumi, organizzati in ordine alfabetico, dove queste testimonianze, con uno sguardo caleidoscopico e non cronologico, rivelano le circostanze in cui sono stati scritti i brani; ricostruiscono i percorsi che li hanno resi così come noi li conosciamo; inquadrano le persone e i luoghi unici – e a volte deliziosamente ordinari – che li hanno ispirati. Il risultato non è un semplice autoritratto, ma una panoramica completa sulla vita di Paul McCartney e su tutto ciò che l’ha sfiorata, dall’adolescenza attraverso il leggendario decennio dei Beatles fino agli Wings e alla sua lunga carriera da solista. È per questo che in ogni brano di The Lyrics si apprezza una passione autentica per l’esperienza, apparentemente banale, della vita di tutti i giorni. Una sequenza ininterrotta di aneddoti e racconti che ricreano l’atmosfera della working class di Liverpool in cui il giovane Paul è cresciuto, con il via vai dei fattorini che caricano e scaricano i pacchi sui moli, con le lunghe serate, soprattutto durante le vacanze, passate tutti stretti attorno ai pianoforti nei salotti delle case. È in questo ambiente che McCartney ci presenta Alan Durband, l’adorato insegnante di inglese del liceo che lo ha iniziato ai meccanismi del distico e della rima, e le anziane signore che con la loro grazia hanno dato forma a Eleanor Rigby. E per la prima volta, McCartney scrive dell’impatto esercitato sulla sua identità e sui suoi valori dalle origini irlandesi e dai genitori. I primi testi come I Lost My Little Girl, invece, descrivono con malinconia la vita della madre, Mary, morta quando lui aveva solo quattordici anni, ma la cui figura da allora ha sempre influenzato la sua opera di compositore. Oltre allo stesso McCartney, due sono le presenze più potenti in The da una parte il suo coautore, John Lennon, e dall’altra la Golden Earth Girl, Linda Eastman McCartney. Del primo, Paul «Siamo diventati versioni l’uno dell’altro. […] L’uno sapeva vedere nell’altro ciò di cui aveva bisogno per essere completo». Racconta del primo incontro, a una festa in parrocchia a Liverpool; del viaggio in autostop in Inghilterra e poi in Europa, con e senza i compagni di band George Harrison e Ringo Starr; di come riuscissero sempre a scrivere qualcosa quando si sedevano l’uno accanto all’altro; e di come, alla fine degli anni Sessanta, le loro strade si divisero, e con esse i Beatles. Un evento che segna di fatto il secondo atto di una esperienza artistica senza eguali, che dura ormai da cinquant’anni e che The Lyrics celebra con la stessa intensità e partecipazione con cui fa rivivere l’epoca storica dei Beatles – quel decennio che ha trasformato per sempre il volto e il suono della musica. La nuova, importante fase della carriera di Paul è segnata dalla vita familiare. Linda Eastman McCartney diventa una forza trainante, la sua presenza permea quasi ogni canzone. In Maybe I’m Amazed, scritta subito dopo lo scioglimento dei Beatles, McCartney riversa la sua travolgente gratitudine per lei, e «Avevamo la sensazione di esserci “tirati fuori dal tempo” a vicenda». Warm and Beautiful, uscita nel 1976, ricorda questo passaggio difficile e afferma ancora una volta l’amore dell’artista per la sua compagna di vita. Anni dopo, riadatterà il brano per essere eseguito da un quartetto d’archi al concerto in sua memoria. Linda Eastman non è tuttavia l’unico amore celebrato in The Lyrics. Anche se di rado viene descritto come tale, Paul McCartney è oltre ogni dubbio tra i più grandi autori di canzoni d’amore del Ventesimo secolo. Le persone che hanno popolato la sua vita, fonte di ispirazione per molte di queste ballate, compaiono nelle pagine in un ricordo amorevole e schietto. Un i litigi con Jane Asher a metà degli anni Sessanta – descritti come «normali litigate tra un ragazzo e una ragazza» – gli hanno suggerito brani come Things We Said Today e We Can Work It Out. Una consuetudine valida ancora oggi, in pezzi come My Valentine, dedicata alla moglie Nancy Shevell McCartney. A illuminare questo libro, inoltre, sono i passaggi più letterari dedicati all’amore per Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll e Allen Ginsberg, e all’inclinazione al gioco di parole, così vivida in Penny Lane e Lady Madonna. Sperimentazioni che sono state una rivelazione, perché, come ricorda «Potevamo essere poetici senza perdere il contatto con i fan, o addirittura si potrebbe dire che è accaduto il contrario – che diventando più sperimentali e virando verso il flusso di coscienza in realtà aumentavamo i n...

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Poetry, History, Autobiography

900 pages, Hardcover

First published November 2, 2021

About the author

Sir James Paul McCartney MBE, known as Paul McCartney, is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, poet, entrepreneur, painter, record producer, film producer, and animal-rights activist. He gained worldwide fame as one of the founders and members of The Beatles. McCartney and John Lennon formed one of the most influential and successful songwriting partnerships and "wrote some of the most popular music in rock and roll history". After leaving The Beatles, McCartney launched a successful solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman McCartney, and songwriter/singer Denny Laine. He has worked on film scores, classical music, and ambient/electronic music; released a large catalogue of songs as a solo artist; and taken part in projects to help international charities.

McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history, with 60 gold discs and sales of 100 million singles. His song "Yesterday" is listed as the most covered song in history and has been played more than 7,000,000 times on American television and radio. Wings' 1977 single "Mull of Kintyre" became the first single to sell more than two million copies in the UK, and remains the UK's top selling non-charity single. (Three charity singles have since surpassed it in sales; the first to do so—in 1984—was Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", whose participants included McCartney.)

His company MPL Communications owns the copyrights to more than 3,000 songs, including all of the songs written by Buddy Holly, along with the publishing rights to such musicals as Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, and Grease.

An iconic figure in contemporary culture, he is regarded internationally as an entertainer and humanitarian. Aside from his musical work, McCartney is an actor, a painter, a poet, and an advocate for animal rights, vegetarianism, and music education; he is active in campaigns against landmines, seal hunting, and Third World debt.

Reviews

[Sannie · Rating 5 out of 5]

At 863 pages, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present seemed a bit daunting, almost like reading Mark Lewisohn's special edition, two volume book Tune In. But reading it is like sitting down and having a conversation with Paul McCartney himself; it flows easily and is a lot of fun. Moreover, there's a lot of other stuff to look at and not read, meaning photos and archival material like handwritten lyrics or drawings.

I was originally skeptical of how the lyrics are organized, which is alphabetically. I saw a livestream Q&A with Paul McCartney and editor Paul Muldoon, where the latter explained by doing it alphabetically, it was more of a kaleidoscope of McCartney's life. But because the book is essentially conversations that the two had together, the organization alphabetically actually works. It feels like someone has asked Paul McCartney, "Tell us about your song 'Coming Up," which may lead to thoughts about some other song or event, and everything feels very organic.

By organizing the 154 songs alphabetically, readers can see some common threads between all of the songs that may have been less apparent had they been organized chronologically:

1. Paul's friendship and partnership with John Lennon is irreplaceable. His relationship to his childhood friend was a constant force in his life that drove creativity, from writing songs together early on to after The Beatles' breakup and having a sort of competition. Even now almost 40 years after John's death, Paul thinks about what John would possibly think, or what his feedback on songs would be.
2. Paul's parents influenced him greatly in many ways, even his mother who died from cancer when he was 14. Paul's upbringing is evident throughout his songwriting and his outlook in life and is really a part of who he is.
3. His grammar school teacher Alan Durban played a mentor role for which Paul is forever grateful, exposing him to the vast world of English literature and what can be done with the English language. Paul's love of wordplay, puns, and wit can be traced back to both his father and his teacher.
4. Paul has so many musical influences, and part of the reason for his success is that he's always curious. He notices things and is willing to try new things out. Even so, early rock and roll shaped who he (and The Beatles) is and it permeates everything he does.
5. Linda McCartney really helped him post-Beatles. This may be obvious, but she helped him find who he was after the band broke up, she helped with Wings, and with so many other songs. Their partnership really is only second to his with John Lennon.

Since the Beatles and Paul's career are so pervasive in our culture, you could also ask yourself, "What can Paul McCartney add to the discourse?" The Lyrics is 100% Paul's point of view, and there isn't actually anything totally new and mind-blowing. It's more about having the information filtered from him and understanding what he was experiencing and how he felt and thought when he wrote the songs we all love. He is a very funny and thoughtful person who also realizes that his career is really like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. The fact that he says he suffers from impostor syndrome at times is both comforting for us plebs and proof of his humility.

One thing I've always asked myself is if Paul ever gets annoyed that everyone always asks him about his time in The Beatles and basically ignores his work since then. He actually addresses this question at one point, saying,

Everything I do seems to be painted with 'Beatle', and there is always some sort of echo that comes from that echo chamber...Some might regard this as a burden, and some celebrities, like Greta Garbo, have become hermits, but I'm very happy about it all because I think it was a great thing we achieved and I'm very proud of it...
I cannot help but realise that so much of what I do is still entangled with the fact that I was in The Beatles. In fact, I say to people that I still am in The Beatles. Well, maybe not in The Beatles, but I'm still a 'Beatle'. The philosophy we had was, and remains, very attractive; it's a whole-world picture - an insistence on the freedom of creative thought that we discovered and that I still love...And a lot of the Beatles stuff still is amazingly timely, so I'm happy to bathe in it. (p.618)

I found this striking and think this encompasses who Paul is. He's forever the optimist, and he's the one who was concerned with giving The Beatles a proper send-off with "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight"/"The End" at the end of Abbey Road. He was and is keenly aware of the legacy that this little band from Liverpool has had, and it seems to me that he sees himself as the protector of that legacy. It is more a blessing than a burden, and frankly, Paul is a global treasure.

As much as The Beatles are naturally an integral part of the book, I enjoyed the fact that The Lyrics spanned Paul's entire catalog; after all, 154 songs is really only a fraction of what he's actually written. Even songs off his latest album, McCartney III make an appearance. I was especially happy to read about songs off Flaming Pie, as for whatever reason, that's a personal favorite of mine. I also couldn't help but actually listen to the accompanying playlist on Spotify with all the songs in the same order while reading. This made for a very immersive experience reading Paul's discussions about the songs like in conversation, while simultaneously poring over photos and archival material like lyrics on sheets of paper. I highly recommend doing this while reading the book.

It also should be said this is definitely for hardcore Beatles/Paul McCartney fans. I'm not sure people who are casually interested in him or the band would find it interesting.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

My gosh, I loved this two-volume collection of the songs that Paul McCartney has penned in his remarkable career. It wasn't just the opportunity to savor the lyrics: it was the pages and pages of stories behind them. It was the revelations about his relationship with John Lennon, the stories of his childhood, and the behind-the-curtain view of the rise and breakup of the Beatles. And the photos in these books? Vintage gold. This collection is a gem.

[Roy Lotz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Beatles fan has a favorite, and mine has always been Paul. (But let’s not get into an argument about it.) So I was delighted to receive this big, beautiful book—two books, really—as a Christmas present. Though massive, it is not a long read. Half of the pages are given over to photographs: of Paul (at various ages), of the other Beatles, of Linda (and a few of Nancy), and, most interestingly, of the original handwritten “manuscripts” (if you want to call them that) of the lyrics.

The lyrics are here, too, of course. But the real meat of the books are the “essays” (if you want to call them that) which accompany the lyrics. These are taken from a series of conversations that Sir Paul had with the Irish poet, Paul Mauldoon, which have been edited into coherent monologues. These conversations are ostensibly about the lyrics—what they mean, why he wrote them that way, etc.—but they often stray off into other territory, usually memories and thoughts that McCartney somehow connects to the songs.

The result is a surprisingly compelling book—a kind of kaleidoscopic memoir—that feels both intimate and refreshing, even for a man whose music and life have so exhaustively been picked over already. I really felt (impressionable fan that I am) that I was getting to know the guy. Perhaps a little too much, even. For I found that an unanticipated drawback of reading this book, and listening to song after song, was getting a bit fed up with Mr. McCartney—or, at least, with his music.

Even if you are a Paul fan, it is difficult to listen to his songs without noticing a fairly steep drop off in quality after he left the Beatles. The contrast highlights something that every Beatles fan knows: the interaction between the four of them—most especially, between John and Paul—are what made the group so special. Paul himself admits this. John Lennon is a constant presence in this book; their partnership (and friendship) was clearly the defining event in his life. The breakup of the Beatles hit Paul like a divorce (complete with legal squabbles and petty insults); and much as the divorced dad must learn to cook, Paul had to learn to write songs without the input of his great friend and partner.

A trivial example is enough to illustrate the value in their collaboration. Paul released his song “Teddy Boy” on his first solo album. The version on that album is nice enough; it is a catchy tune. Yet, if you ask me, the practice version recorded by the Beatles during the “Let it Be” sessions is significantly better—partly because of the musicianship of Ringo and George, and partly because John improvises a silly vocal part (mostly nonsense) that helps to add a much-needed counterpoint to Paul’s lyrics. By itself, Paul’s song is a fairly inane tale of a boy and his mother, not dramatic enough to be moving; yet re-contextualized by John’s ironic commentary, Paul’s lyrics take on a comic aspect that helps to salvage the song.

This, to me, is the really unsatisfactory aspect of many of the songs in this book: they are not silly enough to raise a laugh, nor serious enough to evoke a tear—instead occupying themselves with trivialities. Part of this has to do with McCartney’s philosophy of songwriting: unlike John, Paul consistently tried to keep his own life out of his songs, instead preferring to write of imaginary situations and generalized sentiments. And unlike George or John, he had no aspirations to anything more profound than a good love song. Paul himself responded to these criticisms with his “Silly Love Songs”; and maybe there is, indeed, nothing wrong with silly love songs. Even so, listening to too much of his (post-Beatles) music gives one the same sweet-sick feeling as eating too much candy.

I am coming down rather hard on Paul. But, really, this book has deepened my admiration and respect for him. One remarkable thing about the man is his ability to at least seem normal (no mean feat for someone who has been famous most of his life). He talks a good deal about his humble Liverpool upbringing, and this does seem to have given him a bedrock of common humanity. He also strikes me as having an enviably healthy attitude towards life: curious, optimistic, willing to try new things. (Obviously being an immensely successful musical genius must do wonders for one’s confidence.) As an example of this, when asked to write something for the 150th anniversary of the Liverpool Philharmonic, he immediately agreed—before even considering whether he had any idea how to do such a thing. (The result, unfortunately, was rather uninspiring.)

Of course, the most compelling thing about McCartney is that, at his best, he is one of the best. Admittedly, his greatest songs usually owe their excellence to their melodic rather than to their lyrical qualities. With a few notable exceptions (“Eleonor Rigby” and “For No One,” for example) the words mostly seem like an afterthought—making a project like this seem especially puzzling (and Mauldoon’s invocations of Shakespeare and Dickens, in the introduction, especially silly). Yet arguably the surest test of lyrics are whether they sing well, and Paul’s always do. In any case, Paul is certainly one of the great pop songwriters of the last century, and still iconic at the age of 79. That, I would say, is a life well lived.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

When we met Elvis he was tall so Ringo had to stand on a box to shake his hand. When I wrote Yesterday I went round playing it to random people and I asked them Did You Write This Song and they all said no, so I realised I’d written it in my sleep. Then it became the most recorded song of all time. I was quite surprised. In the early days we tried to keep things very simple, Love Me Do, that’s very straightforward, but She Loves You, now that’s sung by an intermediary so it’s already getting sophisticated. When we moved to London we learned words like intermediary and we discovered Stockhausen. It’s hard to believe that when I was growing up in Liverpool they had only just invented the motor car. I go back so far I’m in front of me !

John was never violent, people have got the wrong idea. He didn’t need to be – he just gave you that look and you’d beat yourself up. His Aunt Mimi was a tough lady. Twice a week she would break his guitar over his head and every time he would buy another for eleven and sixpence. That’s old money. Young people wouldn’t know what shillings and pence were, or things like radios or horses. I get told I’m a real boomer. I’m not sure why. When I was growing up there wasn’t any such thing as The Beatles. It’s hard to imagine that now. I’m a keen ornithologist.

I really enjoy dancing, cooking, driving fast, composing for large orchestras, painting, writing poetry, playing drums and meeting the Queen. She was very cool. Not as tall as Elvis. Young people today won’t remember that but she wasn’t. She asked me, did you write These Boots are Made for Walking? I said no ma’am, that was somebody else. You have to call her ma’am. And you have to walk backwards. It’s true I’ve met quite a few people, Willem de Kooning, Harold Pinter, Bertrand Russell, Dustin Hoffman, you know. But really that’s the wrong way to put it. They met me.

*

Or :

Diamond geezer, national treasure, somewhat like listening to your granddad ramble on and on, repeating some stories word for word, if your granddad is the world’s most successful musician ever.

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a look backward by Paul McCartney at the songs and what was going on in his life while each one was written. The hard copy is a massive two volumes (*mine came in a slipcase) and getting either volume out poses a threat of severe damage if that multi-pounder should strike a vulnerable portion of your anatomy.

There are photos and drawings and other memorabilia that should please the fan. What might not be as satisfying is that it isn’t all the lyrics. You may want to know what inspired the writing of Blackbird, and you will learn a lot. You may want to know the same about In My Life, but there’s not a word about it. The Ballad of John and Yoko is credited to Lennon/McCartney but again not a mention.

Having the songs in alphabetical order makes it easy to find a song, if it is included. This compendium should make it clear that Paul is much more that his career with the Beatles. It’s a welcome addition.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best thing about this two-volume set of books is the reproduced ephemera, the majority of which are from McCartney’s personal archives and previously unpublished. The lyrics to the 154 songs (he has a ton more, so the choices in themselves are interesting) are either well-known or could be found elsewhere, but here they’re “definitive,” meaning: Don’t trust the internet. The musings and stories Paul adds to each set of lyrics are fun to read, though plenty were familiar to me and held only a few new nuggets here or there (certainly not everywhere).

The songs are in alphabetical order, which is how I read the book; but it’d be easy, and perhaps more rewarding, to dip into it instead. I read only one or two entries per day, but by the time I got to the W’s, I was starting to feel weary. And reading it the way I did, the “ending” felt abrupt, like how you’d feel after reading the dictionary. Though a better metaphor for the book and its ending might be that of song — circularity with an ending either experienced suddenly, or as a fade-out…

Depending on what you’re looking for, the newly published The McCartney Legacy, Volume 1: 1969-73 might be a better book for you. (I haven’t read it.) This one reads as an old man (exactly who McCartney is) telling you fascinating stories about his life while you page through his scrapbooks. He rambles a bit and you’ve heard some of the stories before, but you’re mostly happy to hear them again. He might misremember a time or two, but aren’t we all unreliable narrators of our own lives?

[Ulysse · Rating 5 out of 5]

If the Beatles are still more famous than Jesus then Sir Paul McCartney is certainly god. Paul Muldoon, the Irish poet, spent 50 hours interviewing the living legend about 153 of the songs he penned and thus was this book born. And a very big book it is. You’ve got the lyrics on the left hand side and on the right Sir Paul reminiscing on the good (and not so good) old days in a tone of voice I could find no better word to describe than avuncular. Reading his lyrics one realises that they are simply wonderful. Nothing flashy or deep, just simple and true and impossible not to sing. And McCartney’s humorous optimism is a real balm for the soul in these uncertain times. Add to this hundreds of pictures of the world’s greatest troubadour and all the people who have counted in his life, as well as scraps of handwritten lyrics and school exercise books and ticket stubs and post cards and secrets and things that belong in a museum, and you’ve got yourself a treasure of a book to dive into again and again. Oh and do you know which authors influenced him the most? Lewis Carroll and Edward Lear. Magical mystery tour indeed.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This would have been so much better for me if they song lyrics had been presented in chronological order. I’m actually fine with the choice to present the songs in alphabetical order but this is a huge book. Two volumes. Would it have been even a little bit hard to include a list of the songs in general chronologist order? No. It should have been done. Listing the albums where songs appeared would also have been nice but not at important. I would have appreciated a chronological list. Song title and year first published (and/or written) would have been sufficient for me.

I know the songs so well that reading the lyrics I can hear their music/sing along. That was the main draw for me of this book: the lyrics.

There is also lots of great additional material including biographical info, many photos of people and works in progress, and so much else. In addition to the song lyrics, it works as a biography, as a book on the creative process, etc. Different readers will focus on different parts and take away different things from the reading experience.

It definitely helps to be a Paul fan, a Paul & John fan, a Beatles fan, and most of all a fan of the music. Recommended for all/any of the above but not recommended for those with no interest in any of the above. This is a book for fans. I’m not a rabid fan but I’ve always liked Paul, especially since he went veg, and I’ve always enjoyed and admired the music, and some of the lyrics. “The Long and Winding Road” always makes me cry. I know the lyrics and the songs too can be found online. I’ve searched and listened to various songs and pieces of music many times. It’s nice to have all the McCartney lyrics in one place and this two volume set a a whole package. Fascinating content though at times I felt as though I was 13 again and reading a (very large) teen magazine. Usually, it seemed to have more substance though, thankfully.

It is heavy. If they’d tried to make it one volume it would have been unmanageable. The sleeve is nice. (This part reminds me of The Complete Far Side, 1980–1994. It also needs two volumes in a sleeve. So did the The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, 2 Vols w/Reading Glass. I am keeping the former for forever if I can. I just recently gave up the latter after owning it for over 50 years. It had sentimental value but was 50 years out of date and didn’t make the cut of only about 1,200 books left out of an original estimated 15,000.)

4-1/2 stars For what it is, it’s kind of brilliantly done. A half star off for not including a list of the songs in chronological order. Yes, I’ll keep mentioning that. I really liked it anyway. It’s unique so I rounded up my rating.

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb! Wonderful in everyway for a Beatles junkie like me. Ok loved every bit.

My highest recommendation.

[Arjun SV · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book breaks all the conventions of how an autobiography should be written. Such a beautiful read . One of the greatest things about it is I can imagine people becoming fans of his music after reading this. One of the greatest things about this book was how well his creative relationship with the late great John Lennon and Linda McCartney was depicted.
Such a beautiful read

[Fred Forbes · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit more than 4 years ago I did a review on a biography of McCartney and gave it 5 stars. Paul did not participate in the writing or provide any material but he did give his blessing to the effort and it was quite well done.

The only thing that would be an improvement would be for Paul himself to provide the material and in this massive two volume set, he does so. It is a rather clever layout, interspersing his personal commentary among the lyrics of all the songs he wrote or co-wrote. Really an excellent job of weaving the story together as the lyrics are arranged alphabetically yet the story almost seems to be chronological. Clever trick, that.

The book touches on the Beatles, natch, Wings, his family and home issues, history, his work process, etc. Now I may be giving this a higher rating due to a bit of hero worship but if you are a McCartney fan, this is a great project to lose yourself in. Phenomenal photography as well of his life, loves and working.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read the history behind the Beatles' songs. I always forget how many songs they wrote and funnily enough, remember the lyrics to practically every one. I would start to sing each song in my head the second I saw the title. It made me happy and sad at the same time. Happy to have childhood memories revived and sad that John and George are gone.

[tropie · Rating 4 out of 5]

+ 100 lore, -500 psychic damage

if at any point you have think to yourself "i wonder if paul mccartney was thinking about sex when he wrote this" please rest assured no matter what it was he most certainly was. unless, of course, he was lying, which he almost certainly was. there's never been a guy like this before and as a society i still don't think we're capable of dealing with him.

[Loretta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a total Beatle fan. Have been all my life. With that said I went into this book with not so much of an open mind knowing the backstory. Paul and, I just have to say it, his ego. Backstory: he had a discussion with Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, about changing the songs that “he” wrote to McCartney/Lennon instead of the agreement he had with John that all songs that they wrote would be Lennon/McCartney. Yoko pretty much told him to pound salt and that was the end of that. Until now, this book. So Paul takes liberties and changes all the songs that he wrote to McCartney/Lennon so fans know who really wrote the song. Grow up Paul and shame on you for dissing the mastermind of The Beatles, JOHN LENNON.

I skipped all the songs that he changed and zeroed in on just The Beatle songs written by Lennon/McCartney. I also read about his solo songs.

If you’re a real Beatles fan there’s really nothing new here to learn.

[Diana Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I make my way though this book, I am listening to the songs and it's so entertaining to also read what Paul shares in his memories.
This was an absolutely amazing read. Paul is so open in this book, and I highly recommend.

Additional material: There is a wonderful Podcast available where Paul and his editor are telling tales about this work. Highly recommend.

[I. Merey · Rating 5 out of 5]

About ten or more years ago, I was blase about the Beatles--they'd made a lot of songs that I remembered from drives with my mom, but occupied no particularly hallowed spot in my memory. It's taken a while for me to appreciate how many incredible coincidences had come together to have made the band and the very special and unique place they hold in the rock and roll canon. Reading McCartney's own words as he describes the ideas, emotions, musical heroes, personal and world events, real-life and dreamed inspiration that went into each and every song made me appreciate them that much more. There is something about him (and the other four****) that is so naturally charming and a genuine excitement for song-writing and music that is infectious, even through the printed page. Part of the reason why it took me so long to finish the book was I had to look up and try to learn every third song. I spent about five months with this book, casually reading ten pages here, twenty there, and it was amazing.

****My very good friend asked me if I was including Brian Epstein when I said 'the other four'--yes, definitely! Not being a scatterbrained baguette at all, ah hah. hah ahhhhhhhhh ~_~

[Harry Dichmont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this! I’m a big Beatles fan but there was so much I never knew about the context of these songs. Also a good excuse to listen to the classics!

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of comments around 154 songs that Paul McCartney wrote or wrote in collaboration with John Lennon over the period 1956 to the present. For Paul McCartney fans this book is a must have!

Paul McCartney writes a song in about 3 hours. He only ever once started writing a song with the lyrics already written. The song is, ‘All My Loving’. He finds a place to be by himself and has either a guitar or piano handy, and he begins working out particular chords. The lyrics happen around the same time. Throughout this 863 page book he openly admits some of the lyrics don’t make sense. He is much more interested in the sound of the song, and the words need to sound right within the verses. He refers to other artists to support his avant- grade approach to songwriting. For example, he mentions Lewis Carroll more than once. He admits repeatedly that he has no idea about certain phrases he uses. At other times he provides commentary on where he thinks he got the idea from.

I found it worthwhile to listen to the song on YouTube whilst reading the lyrics to a song. All his songs are on YouTube. He has written some superb love songs, ‘for example, ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, ‘Here, there and everywhere’, ‘Warm and Beautiful’, and ‘Somedays’, and some of his other songs are also lyrically very well done, for example, ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Let it Be’.

Whilst he has included songs published in the last 40 years, it is the songs written between 1956 and 1980, and his comments about his life during this time period that I found particularly interesting. He is a bird watcher, lost his drivers licence for a year for speeding too often, painted a large shed roof, sheared sheep, bought his first guitar on a loan scheme, lived in his girlfriend’s family home in the attic room where there was a piano, met Bertrand Russell by phoning the famous philosopher and arranging to meet Russell.

Paul McCartney is a doer who likes time to himself. He states his father and mother had a big impact on his life, as did Linda McCartney and John Lennon.

A book to go back to again and again. Loved it!

So why only 4 stars? Some of the lyrics are just so annoyingly nonsensical, there is a little repetition of particular sentences, lots of repetition of particular themes, and whilst lots of the photos are great, there are a number of photos with only a few words written on a page that add little to the overall story.

I have been a Paul McCartney and Beatles fan since 1968. This book was first published in 2021.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW what a book and what an experience! These two GIGANTIC tomes are lyrics from original McCartney songs (mainly written with John Lennon) along with photos and memories from the song -- whether it is musical memories, the circumstances of the song, what inspired it, etc. Through his songs we learn so much about Paul!

I decided to listen to each song (only two were unavailable on YouTube Music) as I read the book and it was a FANTASTIC addition to the reading experience. I discovered many new songs, mainly from his solo + Wings days and I'm grateful for this insight into a man in a way that's not the "I was born, etc., etc." autobiography.

[Joe Schilp · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's tough to be critical of Paul, as I am a HUGE fan. His talent is unmatched and his music is phenomenal, but often times he contradicts what we know as fact about his music. Take, for example, when he states multiple times that he always writes on piano or guitar and never - NEVER - on anything else. Well, last month we watched Paul literally write "Get Back" while noodling around on bass, waiting for John Lennon to show up at a session. Similarly, he says that he wrote the lyrics to "Got To Get You Into My Life" about pot, then recorded the music, easy peasy, but if you watch Anthology and listen to the early takes on Anthology, you know that the original song was very, VERY different than the final release, so the song went thought many changes.

I was also looking for more out of this book. He obviously talks about John, George and Ringo a lot, as expected, but when he also has lyrics from dozens of Wings songs and the only time Denny Laine's name appears in print is in the caption of a photo, well, there's a problem. Denny was in a McCartney band longer than Ringo was, doesn't Paul have anything to say about his contributions to Wings? I'd like to know what Denny added to the music and to the songs. Paul does mention a beautiful solo by Jimmy McCulloch, but mentions nothing else about him. No disrespect to George Harrison or anyone else, but I believe Jimmy McCulloch was probably the most talented guitar player in any McCartney band. Sadly, he overdosed at the age of 27 in the late 70s. How did Paul feel about McCulloch's playing? About his passing? We may never know, which is sad, to me. Did members leave Wings on a real sour note? Why no real stories about those guys?

Finally, his politics bore me. I mean, the anti-Trump nonsense? This last year under Biden has been a real disaster, worse than any leader in any nation in the free world has ever been. And while Paul endorses the left, he admits that he has enough money to help family with medical problems so they can get immediate access to the best doctors without having to wait 6 months, which is the problem with socialist medicine. See Paul's a true capitalist - buying song rights and healthcare - while espousing socialism for the rest of us, which is the problem I have with politics in general, so better to say nothing at all.

There were some great photos and anecdotes, no doubt. And sure, I would have loved to hear more about songs from Flaming Pie and New, not to mention the song "Take It Away," about which I'd love to know why he has Ringo and Steve Gadd both on drums, but I get it, he couldn't talk about EVERY song he's ever done, so I can't knock his choices too much. But for 870 pages (that I read in 24 hours), I'd have liked to have learned more about the guys he has played with who weren't named John, George and Ringo, who've been written about ad nauseum.

One other note... Paul says he has catalogued over one million pieces in his archives. He's 79. he's not going to live forever. Has he ever thought of opening up a museum? That alone would get me to fly across the Atlantic to visit London. Same with Yoko and Olivia Harrison; neither of whom have grandchildren to whom they can pass their husband's memorabilia, eventually it's going to go into private ownership. Start a Beatles museum along the likes of a presidential museum, with a massive amount of artifacts on display and an even larger collection of documents that can be accessed for research.

[Rick Pucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it. Although, I had a lot of interpretations of his songs that differed from his. e.g. I always thought Elenore Rigby "kept her face in a jar by the door ( got this from a cartoon I saw where she literally had a face in a jar by the door).
Paul said he was referring to all the women who spread Noxima Face creams on their faces and he meant she kept a jar by the door. lol.
So it's pretty cool learning what this lyrical Master was actually writing about and more importantly where the creativity came from at that particular moment in time.
Five stars all the way - and I saw it's made the NY Times Best Seller List already!!!

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a Beatles fan in your family, this would be a great gift. Photographs complement Paul’s thoughtful reflections about the songs he wrote. This is as close to a memoir we will get from him.

[David Albanell · Rating 5 out of 5]

✌️🎸🎹

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

So fun to read the back story of all Paul’s songs.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book. Paul goes through selected songs and has lyrics and photos that may have been taken at the same time as the music was published or just very interesting personal photographs. He recounts very personal feelings that he had at the time and talked about details of the Beatles lives. I didn't attempt to sit down and read the book all at once. As I would read about a song if we had a copy of it on CD or vinyl I would play it. This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read in a while. And I really enjoyed the photos. The Beatles were the band of my era and I loved their music just as I love reading about it and listening to it again.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erinomainen. Tarkempaa arviota myöhemmin!

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is volume 2 of the two-volume set of lyrics by Paul McCartney, covering the song titles L-Z (well, there are no Zs).

Each song has the lyrics, Paul's first-person description of how the song came to be created, and accompanying photographs and illustrations. Often there is a handwritten set of lyrics presented, in Paul's hand.

The first thing that should be said is that these are Paul's song, not just the Beatles songs. There are many Beatles songs that Paul didn't write which aren't here, although the ones co-written by him and John are. Conversely, most of the songs in this volume are not Beatles songs, but written after the band broke up. Paul has had a long creative life, and readers' enjoyment of this book will probably depend largely on how familiar they are with his later work.

Paul says that often he created a song by getting the chords first, rather than the lyrics. A reader's familiarity with the tune will make Paul's comments make more sense. Often the lyrics read quite plainly if the tune is unknown.

Having said that, it's still interesting to see the inner workings of Paul's creative process. It's somewhat true that Paul was the light one, while John was the dark one, and Paul comments a few times of the differences in their childhoods that contributed to that.

The volume also is a short biographical walk through his life, mainly his relationships with his family and with the other Beatles. But mostly family.

Beatles fans will find his musings about their relationship and break-up interesting. True McCartney fans will appreciate the in-depth self-analysis of his songwriting methods.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent pair of books, with rich insights into his music and lots of great anecdotes and thoughts along the way. It's not a comprehensive overview of his lyrics -- not every song gets covered (for example, only two or three songs from his album "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard" get discussed here). But it works as an autobiography of sorts, and we learn a lot about McCartney's upbringing, his relationship to the Beatles, his solo career, his loves, his philosophy, and so on, through his memories of the songs they cover.

Sometimes it works very well, and we learn intimate details about him. Sometimes he gets deep into music theory (e.g. he talks quite a bit about the chord used in "Michelle"). Sometimes he goes on a tangent and frustratingly doesn't talk much about the song -- when discussing "A Day in the Life," which just might be the best Beatles song, he spoke very vaguely about the time period and not at all about the song itself. But then you get several pages of him talking about "Yesterday" or "Eleanor Rigby," or charming anecdotes about how he wrote "My Valentine" as he was falling in love with his current wife, Nancy Shevell, while rained out in Morocco.

The book is beautifully laid out, too, generous use of photography and other design elements. Worth having if you're a Beatles and/or McCartney fan.

[Karen (Living Unabridged) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Makes for fascinating reading. Each song lyric is almost a stream of consciousness meditation from Sir Paul: could be what he was thinking when he wrote it, or a story about a time he performed it, or something otherwise suggested to him by the thought of that song.

And this is all his perspective, which, since he seems to be unfailingly optimistic and grateful, never grates on the nerves. He talks poignantly about John Lennon, "The Beatles" phenomenon, Linda, his current wife Nancy, and his parents and extended family. (It is, perhaps, interesting that he never mentions his failed second marriage or the child from that marriage even one time. And George Harrison is not mentioned much either. Some things remain unexplored or, at the very least, not for public consumption, I suppose.)

I think a chronological arrangement of this material might have been a better way than alphabetically but that's a minor quibble.

[J.J. Lair · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is everything I hoped it would be. A little biography of his life, song motivation, and a little production. Who first said “8Days a Week?” The doctor reeking of gin in “Rocky Racoon.” Jane Asher is a big part of his young life. John Lennon is still a big part of his life.
What is Beatle mythology vs. his memory of “Elinore Rigby.”
Loads of pictures.
I listen to podcasts that explain songs. Uncle Albert on first listen is all over the place, but Janda Layne had a good analysis in her “Behind the Song” podcast. Paul is much more flippant on his analysis. I like finding out who Uncle Albert was.
Apparently Heather, the second Mrs. McCartney was not a muse for him. No mentions.