Paul McCartney believes post-war Liverpool crucially shaped The Beatles: “We gave as good as we got”
Paul McCartney has explained how growing up in post-war Liverpool was pivotal in shaping the mindset of The Beatles.
McCartney was born in the middle of World War II in 1942, but his earliest memories are from the post-war period, which had a huge effect on him and his entire generation.
During a new appearance on The Rest is History, McCartney reminisced about those formative years in conversation with historian Tom Holland and discussed having Liverpool to thank for the person he is today.
He shared, “I do think the character of Liverpool is a very strong one. I think with the Irish influence and then coming through the war, and having to be happy when bombs were falling, there was a lot of music when I was a kid.”
McCartney, whose new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane is a love letter to his early days in Liverpool, continued, “My dad played the piano at home. There were a lot of jokes. And so they kept their heads above water by laughing at the whole thing. And I think that was something that found its way into the Beatles.”
The Beatles legend then explained how those characteristics that were ingrained in the band due to their Liverpool upbring manifested when they were exposed to the wider world, “I think it gave us a good sense of humour – that no matter what we were going to do, like arrive in America and have the New York press ready to make fun of us, we gave as good as we got.”
McCartney gratefully added, “And that was because of our Liverpool upbringing.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, McCartney stated that growing up around people who had survived World War II gave him a thick skin and made him able to see the humour in any situation, sharing, “When I grew up, there was a lot of joy. I think everyone was just so glad to be out of these terrible circumstances. And my uncles were all great joke tellers.”
He elaborated, “And I never heard any of them sort of sitting around going, ‘Oh, God, life’s terrible’. You know, there was none of that. It just, they’d come through it, and so it kind of wasn’t allowed.”
Another turning point was the realisation that national service was no longer on the table, making The Beatles want to grab life with both hands.
McCartney reflected, “All of us grew up expecting to go in the army or national service. So we were all kind of coasting through our teenage years thinking, oh, my God, it’s going to happen soon. And then suddenly it was as if… God opened the waters and the Israelites could just go through. And that was us.”
The Liverpudlian also recently appeared on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, which saw him share his confusion at influencer culture, his problem with seeing Bob Dylan perform live, and why you should never ask him for a selfie.
Watch or listen to The Rest Is History wherever you get your podcasts.
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