The #1 New York Times bestselling book “The Lyrics” is to be released in paperback with seven new song commentaries from our greatest living songwriter, including:
‘Bluebird’
‘Day Tripper’
‘English Tea’
‘Every Night’
‘Hello, Goodbye’
‘Magical Mystery Tour’
‘Step Inside Love’
The release of The Lyrics in 2021 received global recognition and was widely praised as a unique self-portrait of McCartney. It was awarded Book of the Year by Barnes & Noble and Waterstones and even won a British Book Award. Critics admired the depth of McCartney’s literary knowledge and noted the significant similarities between his songwriting and the works of literary giants such as Dickens and Shakespeare, as highlighted in the New York Times Book Review.
Finally, in paperback, it further celebrates the breadth of that creative life and musical genius, covering sixty-six years through 161 songs—from early days in Liverpool, the global pop-cultural domination of The Beatles, the ‘70s radio gold of Wings, and Paul’s prolific and still peaking solo career. A veritable road map to the way artists write and think about music, 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” (Washington Post).
Arranged alphabetically to provide a kaleidoscopic rather than chronological account, The Lyrics establishes definitive texts of these songs for the first time and describes the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what Paul thinks of them now. Presented with this is a treasure trove of material from McCartney’s personal archive – drafts, letters, photographs – never seen before the 2021 publication, making this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.
The seven new song commentaries elaborate more on these themes, whether mulling over the romantic yearning in Vera Lynn’s “We’ll Meet Again” (Bluebird), the playful double entendres meant to trip up BBC censors (Day Tripper), the call and response power of a song (Every Night), the challenge and pleasure of writing for other performers (Step Inside Love), and the unlikely experience of serenading astronauts (English Tea). These first-person accounts give special context to lyrics beloved by generations of fans and show how McCartney (and his contemporaries) were influenced as much by the musical Gigi as Bob Dylan’s Nashville Skyline, the carnival atmosphere of Blackpool as the polyrhythms of a Lagos recording studio.
With a personal foreword by McCartney and edited and introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, The Lyrics is the definitive literary chronicle of one of musical history’s most enduring treasures.