The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present
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- Create Date：2021-11-27 17:20:56
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Paul McCartney
- ISBN：0241519330
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Summary
In this extraordinary book， with unparalleled candour， Paul McCartney recounts his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career - from his earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles， to Wings and his solo albums to the present。 Arranged alphabetically to provide a kaleidoscopic rather than chronological account， it establishes definitive texts of the songs' lyrics for the first time and describes the circumstances in which they were written， the people and places that inspired them， and what he thinks of them now。 Presented with this is a treasure trove of material from McCartney's personal archive - drafts， letters， photographs - never seen before， which make this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time。
We learn intimately about the man， the creative process， the working out of melodies， the moments of inspiration。 The voice and personality of Paul McCartney sings off every page。 There has never been a book about a great musician like it。
We learn intimately about the man， the creative process， the working out of melodies， the moments of inspiration。 The voice and personality of Paul McCartney sings off every page。 There has never been a book about a great musician like it。
Reviews
David Szatkowski
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Fascinating book！Paul's book is unusually structured but it works well。 It offers an intriguing look at the creation many of his and The Beatles songs。 It's an intimate recounting of the history of Britain's most iconic group and Paul's personal history and insights。 It's a worthy autobiography of one of our generations most beloved entertainers。 Fascinating book！Paul's book is unusually structured but it works well。 It offers an intriguing look at the creation many of his and The Beatles songs。 It's an intimate recounting of the history of Britain's most iconic group and Paul's personal history and insights。 It's a worthy autobiography of one of our generations most beloved entertainers。 。。。more
Iwan
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Prachtig boek voor Maccafans。 Mijn exemplaar， besteld bij de firma Bol。com omdat lokale boekhandelaren alleen de vertaalde versie verkochten， heb ik een aantal dagen in huis gehad。 Nadat de， minstens 2 kilo zware box， in een lullig kartonnen zakje bij me thuis was afgeleverd。 'Er zit toch al een kartonnen bescherming om die boeken'， moet de transportverpakkingbaas hebben gedacht。 De box had schade opgelopen en op dag 2 zag ik dat de rug van deel 1 ook was beschadigd。 Met pijn in het hart heb ik Prachtig boek voor Maccafans。 Mijn exemplaar， besteld bij de firma Bol。com omdat lokale boekhandelaren alleen de vertaalde versie verkochten， heb ik een aantal dagen in huis gehad。 Nadat de， minstens 2 kilo zware box， in een lullig kartonnen zakje bij me thuis was afgeleverd。 'Er zit toch al een kartonnen bescherming om die boeken'， moet de transportverpakkingbaas hebben gedacht。 De box had schade opgelopen en op dag 2 zag ik dat de rug van deel 1 ook was beschadigd。 Met pijn in het hart heb ik de boekenset teruggestuurd。 Maar er komt zeker een nieuw exemplaar。 Alleen dan van De Slechte of mijn lokale boekhandel。 。。。En ik bestel de volgende keer de box met de zwart-wit foto van een jeugdige McCartney in zijn achtertuin （de hoes van Chaos and destruction in the backyard）。 。。。more
Dan Trefethen
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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， a 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。 。。。more
Sharon Kallenberger Marzola
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I finished the first book in the set and loved it。 Paul mentions in the forward that people have asked him for years to write his autobiography。 He never had time， and didn't want to make time because he felt that they were only interested in the gossip。 His brother-in-law， John Eastman， suggested that he tell his story through his lyrics。 What a great idea this was。 I pulled out my albums and sat down with the first book in this set。 I played the song， and read what was going on in Paul's life I finished the first book in the set and loved it。 Paul mentions in the forward that people have asked him for years to write his autobiography。 He never had time， and didn't want to make time because he felt that they were only interested in the gossip。 His brother-in-law， John Eastman， suggested that he tell his story through his lyrics。 What a great idea this was。 I pulled out my albums and sat down with the first book in this set。 I played the song， and read what was going on in Paul's life that inspired his lyrics。 His parents love and influence is obvious in many songs。 Surprisingly， his love for words was influenced by Shakespeare， Geoffrey Chaucer， and other poets that he was required to memorize in school。 I was surprised when Paul talked about John after his Uncle George died。 John said he didn't think that he wasn't supposed to have a male influence in his life。 There are so many other stories from his school days， The Beatles years， and solo careers in this first book。 Any Paul McCartney or Beatle fan should read this one。 Not only is it filled with information I didn't know （I was a major Beatlemaniac back in the day，） every song brought back so many good memories for me。 I loved it。 。。。more
Michelle "Champ"
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I wouldn't tell you the book is spectacular if I didn't believe it。 Any Beatles， Macca， songwriter， and possibly just a music fan， could benefit from something in this book。 It is beautifully done， full of handwritten notes， pages of scrapbooks， and Paul's delightful drawings。 You see all this and say， "why didn't you give it 5 stars？" I can tell you that in two words， Flaming Pie。 Flaming Pie is my second favorite Macca song of all time and yet， it didn't make the cut。 That wasn't all， I looked I wouldn't tell you the book is spectacular if I didn't believe it。 Any Beatles， Macca， songwriter， and possibly just a music fan， could benefit from something in this book。 It is beautifully done， full of handwritten notes， pages of scrapbooks， and Paul's delightful drawings。 You see all this and say， "why didn't you give it 5 stars？" I can tell you that in two words， Flaming Pie。 Flaming Pie is my second favorite Macca song of all time and yet， it didn't make the cut。 That wasn't all， I looked and looked to make sure I didn't miss these too， Ballroom Dancing， Take it Away， Press， Beautiful Night， and Wanderlust。 You may not miss those songs， but if you love all of those like I do， you feel a little short。 Overall， I love it， I am so grateful it was released and even more happy for the tunes that often grace my eardrums。 。。。more
Arjun SV
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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
Susan
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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。 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。 。。。more
Sannie
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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 s 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。 。。。more
Jo
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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。
ella
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