Sir Paul, Macca, whatever you want to call him, is the most famous octogenarian Liverpudlian to grace the stage at a capacity filled Woolsey. In conversation with a Yale English prof, McCartney and Irish poet laureate Paul Muldoon spoke of their collaborative book Lyrics which exposes 175 career spanning song lyrics arranged in alphabetical order. The Beatles, Wings, solo and collaborations, McCartney’s career is nothing short of legendary. The songs occupy a space in the soundtrack to so many people’s lives, mine included. How fortunate am I to be married to someone who works at Yale who has the manual dexterity to get us on the list to view this pillar of the music we love. The themes are what one might expect; family, place of origin, love of language, hatched in a time that was singular, The Beatles serve as a support beam to much of todays music. While he was talking, I was struck by his awe at the body of work, and how in many instances he attributed luck or magic to the songs. He said that the song Yesterday came to him fully formed in a dream! Take that shitty dream about buying grapes or driving through the woods. His imagination was also on full display, on the tour bus a roadie asked Paul to “pass the salt and pepper” which birthed the entire concept of Sgt. Pepper. Paul stated that he came from a large, happy family while John did not. These perspectives helped the songs to gel, one example was Paul’s “it’s getting better all the time” to John’s “it couldn’t get much worse”. Hey Jude was actually Paul’s message to Lennon’s son Julian (Jules) regarding John’s divorce of his first wife. The yin and yang that is Lennon-McCartney is emphasized by their process. He said that they would sit across from each other for hours with acoustic guitars, Paul lefty and John righty, exhibited a mirror like quality to their songwriting. Liverpool; the “capital of Ireland” is a port city home to working class Irish, and Caribbean communities. Paul attributes this melting pot as home to his love of language and respect for people. When the Beatles first came to America (land of the free and all), they were slated to play in Jacksonville to a segregated crowd. They refused and forced the town elders to bend their policies to avoid riots. The magical Liverpool landscape is a character in this story. Paul spoke of being a Boy Scout wherein they were tasked to help the community by inquiring the locals for “a bob a job”. The small amount of money received for odd jobs paled in comparison to his interactions with old people, your welcome Eleanor Rigby. It’s hard to believe, but Paul has musical influences. Rock and roll didn’t just happen in a bedroom in Liverpool. Chuck Berry, Elvis, Little Richard, Motown were thrown in the songwriting pot. Paul said he wrote “The Long and Winding Road” with Ray Charles as inspiration. On songs he wished he wrote, “God Only Knows” by The Beach Boys rates. He said he sang it with Brian Wilson and cried through most of it. What was apparent in this talk is that Sir Paul is a willing and capable vessel to trap the lightning needed to forge this music, magic indeed.
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