The Lyrics
by
60/99
Critics
86/99
Readers
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Scholars
55/99
Rating
66/99
Volume
98/99
Rating
73/99
Volume
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About This Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A Washington Post Notable Book Excerpted in The New Yorker A work of unparalleled candor and splendorous beauty, The Lyrics celebrates the creative life and the musical genius of Paul McCartney through 154 of his most meaningful songs. From his early Liverpool days, through the historic decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his long solo career, The Lyrics pairs the definitive texts of 154 Paul McCartney songs with first-person commentaries on his life and music. Spanning two alphabetically arranged volumes, these commentaries reveal how the songs came to be and the people who inspired them: his devoted parents, Mary and Jim; his songwriting partner, John Lennon; his "Golden Earth Girl," Linda Eastman; his wife, Nancy McCartney; and even Queen Elizabeth, among many others. Here are the origins of "Let It Be," "Lovely Rita," "Yesterday," and "Mull of Kintyre," as well as McCartney's literary influences, including Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, and Alan Durband, his high-school English teacher. With images from McCartney's personal archives―handwritten texts, paintings, and photographs, hundreds previously unseen― The Lyrics , spanning sixty-four years, becomes the definitive literary and visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. 165 images
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Reviews
"there's nothing like listening to Macca (as McCartney was known in his Liverpool days) talk about the rise of a band composed largely of working-class teens who changed the world forever ..."
"The odd curiosity aside...what emerges here is a portrait of a songwriter constantly searching for the elusive tune."
"Yes, we all know that McCartney can't help defining himself in relation to Lennon."
"The majority have lived inside us since we first heard them, in my case for almost 60 years ..."
"Others are dully prosaic ..."
"But at best he's a wonderfully versatile lyricist: troubadour, comedian, elegist, social commentator, pasticheur."
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