The Neil Young song Paul McCartney would play for Linda as she battled cancer
Paul McCartney understands the power of words better than most—not just in a poetic or musical sense, but in how they resonate beyond art, in the moments when it truly counts. Throughout his entire life, McCartney’s heart has been guided by words, but few experiences compare to his final days with his wife, Linda McCartney.
The sweetest aspect of McCartney’s journey with Linda is that, for the most part, it seemed to pan out similarly to any other love story. Meeting with initial attraction, the pair met in 1967 at a Georgie Fame concert at The Bag O’Nails nightclub in Soho, London, before deciding to get to know each other better over an intimate drink. It was during this haze that the Beatle mentioned off-hand that he liked rabbits, white ones, to be exact.
The following day, he received a white rabbit from Linda and immediately called her to express his thanks. From then on, their romance seemed entirely fated. As her friend Miki Antony recalled, “[Paul] rang her up and said, ‘Thank you so much for the white rabbit, would you like to come out for dinner again?’ That’s how I knew they’d started dating. The rest is history.”
Their love story would tragically be cut short, however, when in 1995, Linda’s breast cancer diagnosis began what would become a long and arduous battle. However, McCartney remained by her side the entire time, keeping her grounded and reminding her of their unity even as things grew incomprehensibly uncertain. In her final hours, McCartney’s affinity for words came through as he told her, “You’re up on your beautiful Appaloosa stallion. It’s a fine spring day. We’re riding through the woods. The bluebells are all out, and the sky is a clear blue.”
Before she passed, head and heart high in the clouds of McCartney’s final gifted dream, music became another solace in the darkness. An avid fan of Neil Young, he would play her songs from his early discography, like ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’, allowing her to bask in the beauty of such poignant words and melodies for a momentary escape from reality.
McCartney has held his love for Linda close ever since, proving so in the subtle and delicate ways he continues to pay homage to her, whether through his own performances or duets with others. One notable occasion occurred when he performed ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ alongside Young in 2004 at the musician’s annual Bridge School Benefit concert.
The version, aside from holding inherent poignancy within the context of the charitable cause, exuded a deeper, more palpable charm knowing how much the song and artist meant to McCartney and Linda. This is especially pronounced considering the way the lyrics tackle yearning for something lost deep within: “I have a friend I’ve never seen / He hides his head inside a dream / Someone should call him and see if he can come out / Try to lose the down that he’s found.”
