Paul McCartney says putting together his new book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, was, at times, therapeutic.
He was asked on his website if while assembling the book “were there any lyrics or memories that came back to you and reminded you of a time you’d forgotten?”
Paul answered, “It wasn’t really a forgotten memory, but revisiting the first song I ever wrote ‘I Lost My Little Girl’ was interesting.
“It kind of turned into a therapy session, because I thought I was happily writing a little pop song when I was 14, but if you look at the timing of it I had just lost my mother. When you think about that, the song seems to have a much deeper meaning that I hadn’t noticed before: the possibility of it being subliminally written about her.
“I’ve always said ‘Let It Be’ was written after dreaming of my mum, but some of the lyrics from ‘Yesterday’ might have been to do with my mum as well…
“I think the whole process of analyzing the songs took me to stuff that I hadn’t thought of recently — not because I didn’t want to, but because there was never a clue, never a prompt, never a trigger to think about those things.
“That was the interesting thing about making this book. I had to go back in my memory to see how I’d written that song, why I’d written it and any interesting side stories. It became about more than just the songs: it became the memories that the songs evoked. It was a nice process, actually. Better that being with a psychiatrist!”
The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, which contains 154 of songs he either wrote by himself or with others, including Lennon, was published today
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