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{{Short description|2021 non-fiction book by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon}} |
{{Short description|2021 non-fiction book by Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon}} |
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{{Infobox book |
{{Infobox book |
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| name = The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present |
| name = The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present |
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'''''The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present''''' is a book released in November 2021 by the English musician [[Paul McCartney]] and the Irish poet [[Paul Muldoon]]. It is published by [[Penguin Books Ltd]] in the United Kingdom, [[W. W. Norton & Company|W.W. Norton/Liveright]] in the United States of America and [[C.H. Beck]] in Germany. |
'''''The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present''''' is a book released in November 2021 by the English musician [[Paul McCartney]] and the Irish poet [[Paul Muldoon]]. It is published by [[Penguin Books Ltd]] in the United Kingdom, [[W. W. Norton & Company|W.W. Norton/Liveright]] in the United States of America and [[C.H. Beck]] in Germany. |
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Muldoon's conversations recorded with McCartney for the book turned into a podcast ''McCartney: A Life in Lyrics'', released throughout 2023 and 2024.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Grow |first=Kory |date=2023-07-18 |title=Paul McCartney Will Open Up About His 'Life in Lyrics' in New Podcast |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/paul-mccartney-life-in-lyrics-podcast-1234789696/ |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref> |
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==Synopsis== |
==Synopsis== |
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The book consists of McCartney's discussions with Muldoon of the lyrics of 154 of his songs written during his time as a member of the rock bands [[the Beatles]] and [[Wings (band)|Wings]] and as a solo artist.<ref name='WW'>{{cite web|title=The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present|url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631492563/about-the-book/description |
The book consists of McCartney's discussions with Muldoon of the lyrics of 154 of his songs written during his time as a member of the rock bands [[the Beatles]] and [[Wings (band)|Wings]] and as a solo artist.<ref name='WW'>{{cite web|title=The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present|url=https://wwnorton.com/books/9781631492563/about-the-book/description|publisher=[[W.W. Norton/Liveright]]|accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref><ref name=Bookseller>{{cite news|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/paul-mccartney-tells-life-story-through-lyrics-allen-lane-1238682|title=Paul McCartney tells life story through lyrics for Allen Lane|first=Mark|last=Chandler|date=24 February 2021|work=[[The Bookseller]]|accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> The songs are arranged alphabetically over two volumes. The book also includes many previously unseen photographs, paintings and handwritten texts.<ref name='WW' /> Muldoon spoke with McCartney over five years in two- to three-hour sessions during the creation of the book and felt that McCartney's "insights into his own artistic process confirm a notion at which we had but guessed—that Paul McCartney is a major literary figure who draws upon, and extends, the long tradition of poetry in English".<ref name=Bookseller/><ref name=Guard21>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/24/paul-mccartney-to-publish-900-page-lyrical-autobiography-the-lyrics|title=Paul McCartney to publish 900-page lyrical 'autobiography'|first=Alison|last=Flood|date=24 February 2021|work=[[The Guardian]]|accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> Muldoon felt that their conversations mimicked McCartney's writing sessions with [[John Lennon]] as they were both "determined never to leave the room without something interesting".<ref name=Guard21 /> |
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McCartney had always previously declined to write an [[autobiography]], recalling that he had been asked "More often than I can count" as "the time has never been right". McCartney has said that he has never kept a diary to recall the past but does have " |
McCartney had always previously declined to write an [[autobiography]], recalling that he had been asked "More often than I can count" as "the time has never been right". McCartney has said that he has never kept a diary to recall the past but does have "my songs, hundreds of them, which I've learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life".<ref name='Waterstones'>{{cite web|title=The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present|url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-lyrics/paul-mccartney/paul-muldoon/9780241519332|publisher=[[Waterstones]]|accessdate=27 September 2021}}</ref> |
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==Reception== |
==Reception== |
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The book received mostly positive reviews. [[David Hepworth]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote that "Whereas the other Beatles wrote fitfully after the group broke up, Paul kept getting out his pencil, taking his guitar into a quiet corner and writing yet another song, less on the basis of inspiration than the feeling that it was a muscle he must use or lose. It's this more than 10,000 hours spent setting himself the eternal puzzle of getting from the beginning of a song to its end that enabled him to dazzle [[Dustin Hoffman]] by writing "[[Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)]]" in front of him. |
The book received mostly positive reviews. [[David Hepworth]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote that "Whereas the other Beatles wrote fitfully after the group broke up, Paul kept getting out his pencil, taking his guitar into a quiet corner and writing yet another song, less on the basis of inspiration than the feeling that it was a muscle he must use or lose. It's this more than 10,000 hours spent setting himself the eternal puzzle of getting from the beginning of a song to its end that enabled him to dazzle [[Dustin Hoffman]] by writing "[[Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)]]" in front of him. 'Can you write a song about anything?' Hoffman asked. Yes, Dustin, he clearly can." He was also impressed by the people mentioned by McCartney: "The index is a reminder of the fact that, having been actively famous for 60 years, Paul McCartney has met everyone he’s had a mind to meet. Having learned from [[Craig Brown (satirist)|Craig Brown]]'s recent book that [[Malcolm Muggeridge]] came to see the Beatles play in Hamburg, I no longer bat an eyelid at the revelation that in 1964 Paul rocked up unannounced at the door of [[Bertrand Russell]]."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hepworth |first1=David |title=The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney review – a man of his words |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/31/the-lyrics-1956-to-the-present-by-paul-mccartney-review |access-date=8 December 2021 |work=the Guardian |date=31 October 2021 |language=en}}</ref> |
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[[David Hajdu]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that "McCartney shows how deeply he is steeped in literary history and how much his output as a songwriter has in common with the works of the likes of [[Dickens]] and [[Shakespeare]]." He concludes: "Aaaah … we realize: ''Paul really is a word man, the more literary and cerebral Beatle.''"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hajdu |first1=David |title=McCartney, With and Without Lennon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/06/books/review/the-lyrics-paul-mccartney.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=8 December 2021 |date=6 November 2021}}</ref> |
[[David Hajdu]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that "McCartney shows how deeply he is steeped in literary history and how much his output as a songwriter has in common with the works of the likes of [[Dickens]] and [[Shakespeare]]." He concludes: "Aaaah … we realize: ''Paul really is a word man, the more literary and cerebral Beatle.''"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hajdu |first1=David |title=McCartney, With and Without Lennon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/06/books/review/the-lyrics-paul-mccartney.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=8 December 2021 |date=6 November 2021}}</ref> |
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[[David Kirby (journalist)|David Kirby]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' praised the book and said that "Reading ''The Lyrics'' is like standing in a master chef’s kitchen as he prepares a dish, adding a dash of this and a spoonful of that and talking to us so winningly that we don’t realize till later that he has withheld an ingredient, one that, because he was so deeply engaged himself, he didn’t know he was withholding."<ref>{{cite |
[[David Kirby (journalist)|David Kirby]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' praised the book and said that "Reading ''The Lyrics'' is like standing in a master chef’s kitchen as he prepares a dish, adding a dash of this and a spoonful of that and talking to us so winningly that we don’t realize till later that he has withheld an ingredient, one that, because he was so deeply engaged himself, he didn’t know he was withholding."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kirby |first1=David |title=Review {{!}} How did the Beatles do it? Paul McCartney is finally telling us. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/paul-mccartney-lyrics/2021/10/27/2d685f10-30ff-11ec-93e2-dba2c2c11851_story.html |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=8 December 2021}}</ref> |
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[[Blake Morrison]] wrote in a review for the ''Guardian'' that the stories recalled by McCartney are unusual and entertaining: |
[[Blake Morrison]] wrote in a review for the ''Guardian'' that the stories recalled by McCartney are unusual and entertaining: |
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{{cquote |
{{cquote |
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|text=Getting it down, he used dummy words: what became "[[Yesterday (The Beatles song)|Yesterday]] all my troubles seemed so far away" began as "scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs". The backstories to the songs are often as interesting as the lyrics. With "[[Ticket to Ride]]" he and John were also thinking about a trip they'd made to Ryde, on the [[Isle of Wight]]; "[[Blackbird (The Beatles song)|Blackbird]]", with its "broken wings", was written after the assassination of |
|text=Getting it down, he used dummy words: what became "[[Yesterday (The Beatles song)|Yesterday]] all my troubles seemed so far away" began as "scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs". The backstories to the songs are often as interesting as the lyrics. With "[[Ticket to Ride (song)|Ticket to Ride]]" he and John were also thinking about a trip they'd made to [[Ryde]], on the [[Isle of Wight]]; "[[Blackbird (The Beatles song)|Blackbird]]", with its "broken wings", was written after the [[assassination of Martin Luther King]]; "[[Hey Jude]]" was originally "Hey Jules" and written for the young [[Julian Lennon]] after John had divorced [[Cynthia Lennon|Cynthia]]; the portrait of a community in "[[Penny Lane]]" took its bearings from [[Dylan Thomas]]'s ''[[Under Milk Wood]]'' while "[[She's Leaving Home]]" 'was almost like a shooting script for [[the Wednesday Play]]'. |
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}} |
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Morrison concluded in his review that "Stripped of the music, the words on the page can look random or banal. But at best he's a wonderfully versatile lyricist: troubadour, comedian, elegist, social commentator, pasticheur. And anyone with even half an interest in the Beatles will find ''The Lyrics'' fascinating."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morrison |first1=Blake |title=Book of the day: The Lyrics by Paul McCartney review – the stories behind the songs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/20/the-lyrics-by-paul-mccartney-review-the-stories-behind-the-songs |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=the Guardian |date=20 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> |
Morrison concluded in his review that "Stripped of the music, the words on the page can look random or banal. But at best he's a wonderfully versatile lyricist: troubadour, comedian, elegist, social commentator, pasticheur. And anyone with even half an interest in the Beatles will find ''The Lyrics'' fascinating."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morrison |first1=Blake |title=Book of the day: The Lyrics by Paul McCartney review – the stories behind the songs |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/20/the-lyrics-by-paul-mccartney-review-the-stories-behind-the-songs |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=the Guardian |date=20 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref> |
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== Podcast == |
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{{Infobox podcast |
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| title = McCartney: A Life in Lyrics |
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| host = Paul Muldoon |
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| starring = Paul McCartney |
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| creator = iHeartPodcasts, MPL, Pushkin Industries |
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| length = 19–39 minutes |
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| country = United States |
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| began = 2023-10-04 |
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}} |
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Muldoon's conversations recorded with McCartney for the book turned into a podcast ''McCartney: A Life in Lyrics'', with a two series co-producted by [[IHeartMedia|iHeartPodcasts]], [[MPL Communications]], and [[Pushkin Industries]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Paul McCartney {{!}} News {{!}} Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon Announce New Podcast ‘McCartney: A Life in Lyrics’ |url=https://paulmccartney.com/news/paul-mccartney-and-paul-muldoon-announce-new-podcast-mccartney-a-life-in-lyrics |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=paulmccartney.com |language=en}}</ref> Season 1 was released on audio streaming platforms between October and December 2023. Season 2 was released between February and April 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to McCartney: A Life in Lyrics {{!}} McCartney: A Life in Lyrics |url=https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/mccartney-a-life-in-lyrics/welcome-to-mccartney-a-life-in-lyrics |access-date=2024-04-29 |website=Pushkin Industries |language=en}}</ref> |
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===Season 1 === |
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# "[[Eleanor Rigby]]" (1966) |
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# "[[Back in the U.S.S.R.]]" (1968) |
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# "[[Let It Be (song)|Let It Be]]" (1970) |
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# "[[Mull of Kintyre (song)|Mull of Kintyre]]" (1977) |
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# "[[Penny Lane]]" (1967) |
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# "[[Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey]]" (1971) |
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# "[[Here Today (Paul McCartney song)|Here Today]]" (1982) |
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# "[[Live and Let Die (song)|Live and Let Die]]" (1973) |
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# "[[Magical Mystery Tour (song)|Magical Mystery Tour]]" (1967) |
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# "[[Jenny Wren]]" (2005), "[[Blackbird (Beatles song)|Blackbird]]" (1968) |
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# "[[Too Many People]]" (1971) |
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# "[[Helter Skelter (song)|Helter Skelter]]" (1968) |
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=== Season 2 === |
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# "[[Love Me Do]]" (1962) |
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# "[[Band on the Run (song)|Band on the Run]]" (1974) |
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# "[[Maxwell's Silver Hammer|Maxwell’s Silver Hammer]]" (1969) |
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# "[[Yesterday (song)|Yesterday]]" (1965) |
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# "[[Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)|Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me)]]" (1973) |
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# "[[Silly Love Songs]]" (1976) |
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# "[[A Day in the Life]]" (1967) |
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# "[[Hey Jude]]" (1968) |
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# "[[Here, There and Everywhere]]" (1966) |
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# "[[Give Ireland Back to the Irish]]" (1972) |
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# "[[Michelle (song)|Michelle]]" (1965) |
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# "[[The End (Beatles song)|The End]]" (1969) |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Paul McCartney|state=collapsed}} |
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{{The Beatles literature}} |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, The}} |
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, The}} |
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[[Category:2021 non-fiction books]] |
[[Category:2021 non-fiction books]] |
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[[Category:Allen Lane (imprint) books]] |
[[Category:Allen Lane (imprint) books]] |
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[[Category:Books about |
[[Category:Books about the Beatles]] |
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[[Category:Paul McCartney]] |
[[Category:Books by Paul McCartney]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Boni & Liveright books]] |
Latest revision as of 00:04, 30 April 2024
![]() | |
Editor | Paul Muldoon |
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Author | Paul McCartney |
Language | English |
Subject | Paul McCartney's lyrics |
Published | November 2, 2021 |
Publisher | Liveright, Penguin Books Ltd, C.H. Beck |
Publication place | UK |
Pages | 960 |
ISBN | 978-1-63149-256-3 |
Website | Official website |
The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present is a book released in November 2021 by the English musician Paul McCartney and the Irish poet Paul Muldoon. It is published by Penguin Books Ltd in the United Kingdom, W.W. Norton/Liveright in the United States of America and C.H. Beck in Germany.
Muldoon's conversations recorded with McCartney for the book turned into a podcast McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, released throughout 2023 and 2024.[1]
Synopsis
[edit]The book consists of McCartney's discussions with Muldoon of the lyrics of 154 of his songs written during his time as a member of the rock bands the Beatles and Wings and as a solo artist.[2][3] The songs are arranged alphabetically over two volumes. The book also includes many previously unseen photographs, paintings and handwritten texts.[2] Muldoon spoke with McCartney over five years in two- to three-hour sessions during the creation of the book and felt that McCartney's "insights into his own artistic process confirm a notion at which we had but guessed—that Paul McCartney is a major literary figure who draws upon, and extends, the long tradition of poetry in English".[3][4] Muldoon felt that their conversations mimicked McCartney's writing sessions with John Lennon as they were both "determined never to leave the room without something interesting".[4]
McCartney had always previously declined to write an autobiography, recalling that he had been asked "More often than I can count" as "the time has never been right". McCartney has said that he has never kept a diary to recall the past but does have "my songs, hundreds of them, which I've learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life".[5]
Reception
[edit]The book received mostly positive reviews. David Hepworth of The Guardian wrote that "Whereas the other Beatles wrote fitfully after the group broke up, Paul kept getting out his pencil, taking his guitar into a quiet corner and writing yet another song, less on the basis of inspiration than the feeling that it was a muscle he must use or lose. It's this more than 10,000 hours spent setting himself the eternal puzzle of getting from the beginning of a song to its end that enabled him to dazzle Dustin Hoffman by writing "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)" in front of him. 'Can you write a song about anything?' Hoffman asked. Yes, Dustin, he clearly can." He was also impressed by the people mentioned by McCartney: "The index is a reminder of the fact that, having been actively famous for 60 years, Paul McCartney has met everyone he’s had a mind to meet. Having learned from Craig Brown's recent book that Malcolm Muggeridge came to see the Beatles play in Hamburg, I no longer bat an eyelid at the revelation that in 1964 Paul rocked up unannounced at the door of Bertrand Russell."[6]
David Hajdu of The New York Times noted that "McCartney shows how deeply he is steeped in literary history and how much his output as a songwriter has in common with the works of the likes of Dickens and Shakespeare." He concludes: "Aaaah … we realize: Paul really is a word man, the more literary and cerebral Beatle."[7]
David Kirby of The Washington Post praised the book and said that "Reading The Lyrics is like standing in a master chef’s kitchen as he prepares a dish, adding a dash of this and a spoonful of that and talking to us so winningly that we don’t realize till later that he has withheld an ingredient, one that, because he was so deeply engaged himself, he didn’t know he was withholding."[8]
Blake Morrison wrote in a review for the Guardian that the stories recalled by McCartney are unusual and entertaining:
Getting it down, he used dummy words: what became "Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away" began as "scrambled eggs, oh my baby, how I love your legs". The backstories to the songs are often as interesting as the lyrics. With "Ticket to Ride" he and John were also thinking about a trip they'd made to Ryde, on the Isle of Wight; "Blackbird", with its "broken wings", was written after the assassination of Martin Luther King; "Hey Jude" was originally "Hey Jules" and written for the young Julian Lennon after John had divorced Cynthia; the portrait of a community in "Penny Lane" took its bearings from Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood while "She's Leaving Home" 'was almost like a shooting script for the Wednesday Play'.
Morrison concluded in his review that "Stripped of the music, the words on the page can look random or banal. But at best he's a wonderfully versatile lyricist: troubadour, comedian, elegist, social commentator, pasticheur. And anyone with even half an interest in the Beatles will find The Lyrics fascinating."[9]
Podcast
[edit]McCartney: A Life in Lyrics | |
---|---|
Presentation | |
Hosted by | Paul Muldoon |
Starring | Paul McCartney |
Created by | iHeartPodcasts, MPL, Pushkin Industries |
Length | 19–39 minutes |
Country of origin | United States |
Publication | |
Original release | 2023-10-04 |
Muldoon's conversations recorded with McCartney for the book turned into a podcast McCartney: A Life in Lyrics, with a two series co-producted by iHeartPodcasts, MPL Communications, and Pushkin Industries.[1][10] Season 1 was released on audio streaming platforms between October and December 2023. Season 2 was released between February and April 2024.[11]
Season 1
[edit]- "Eleanor Rigby" (1966)
- "Back in the U.S.S.R." (1968)
- "Let It Be" (1970)
- "Mull of Kintyre" (1977)
- "Penny Lane" (1967)
- "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (1971)
- "Here Today" (1982)
- "Live and Let Die" (1973)
- "Magical Mystery Tour" (1967)
- "Jenny Wren" (2005), "Blackbird" (1968)
- "Too Many People" (1971)
- "Helter Skelter" (1968)
Season 2
[edit]- "Love Me Do" (1962)
- "Band on the Run" (1974)
- "Maxwell’s Silver Hammer" (1969)
- "Yesterday" (1965)
- "Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me)" (1973)
- "Silly Love Songs" (1976)
- "A Day in the Life" (1967)
- "Hey Jude" (1968)
- "Here, There and Everywhere" (1966)
- "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" (1972)
- "Michelle" (1965)
- "The End" (1969)
References
[edit]- ^ a b Grow, Kory (2023-07-18). "Paul McCartney Will Open Up About His 'Life in Lyrics' in New Podcast". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
- ^ a b "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present". W.W. Norton/Liveright. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ a b Chandler, Mark (24 February 2021). "Paul McCartney tells life story through lyrics for Allen Lane". The Bookseller. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ a b Flood, Alison (24 February 2021). "Paul McCartney to publish 900-page lyrical 'autobiography'". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present". Waterstones. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ Hepworth, David (31 October 2021). "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present by Paul McCartney review – a man of his words". the Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Hajdu, David (6 November 2021). "McCartney, With and Without Lennon". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Kirby, David. "Review | How did the Beatles do it? Paul McCartney is finally telling us". Washington Post. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
- ^ Morrison, Blake (20 November 2021). "Book of the day: The Lyrics by Paul McCartney review – the stories behind the songs". the Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
- ^ "Paul McCartney | News | Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon Announce New Podcast 'McCartney: A Life in Lyrics'". paulmccartney.com. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
- ^ "Welcome to McCartney: A Life in Lyrics | McCartney: A Life in Lyrics". Pushkin Industries. Retrieved 2024-04-29.