“I remember it to this day”: the song that gave Paul McCartney his confidence
There is no denying or arguing that Paul McCartney is one of the world’s greatest songwriters. Given how many of his compositions are cornerstones of the world’s songbook, it’s a fact. Everybody’s well-familiar with ‘Hey Jude’, ‘Yesterday’, or ‘Blackbird’. However, like any artist, McCartney’s career came with an element of self-doubt, especially in his younger years.
McCartney was only 15 when he first met John Lennon, who was only a year older than him, and the band McCartney was trying to join was his—thus, there was already a hierarchy there. McCartney likely felt, to some degree, like a little brother trying to impress his siblings. Part of that attitude stuck around, as in their later years, when Lennon started being incredibly harsh toward his old friend’s talent, it cut deep. It was as if the years McCartney had spent trying to make his bandmate proud came crashing down.
It’s the kind of subtle insecurity that every artist knows well. Especially within a band or any collaborative setting, there is a level of vulnerability combined with a desire to do well. People want to impress other people, and they want praise from the people they love and admire—it’s only natural.
McCartney definitely felt that. He wanted Lennon’s praise as the duo were forging forward, breaching new grounds for rock and roll, and one day, when he was still only 24, he got it.
“Wow! That’s a really great song!”—that’s all it took. For Paul McCartney, hearing that outright compliment, a thing pretty rare between them, changed everything. It was a confidence booster unlike anything else, and to have it come off the back of a rough demo was huge. “I was rooming with John… in the hotel we were staying at,” McCartney recalled to Howard Stern in 2018 during the filming of Help!. In their downtime, they were also trying to write Revolver and were going through old abandoned ideas or drafts of songs they’d each been working on to try and find a spark.
‘Here, There and Everywhere’ was that spark, playing from a low-quality cassette tape when Lennon delivered the clear compliment. “It was really nice! I remember it to this day, you know, exactly where I was when he said it!” McCartney gushed about this moment imprinted in his brain. It felt like a turning point, as if Lennon had suddenly given him permission to feel secure in his talent as he explained, “It really gave me a lot of confidence in that song, and in my writing.”
But the compliments kept coming. “I remember John saying, ‘You know, I probably like that better than any of my songs on the tape.’ Coming from John, that was high praise indeed,” McCartney recounted as this song briefly broke through the casual rivalry that naturally existed between the two. Sure, they were a team, but at the end of the day, they were young lads trying to craft a legacy. A level of competition was normal, but in this moment, it all faded for the appreciation of a great song.
That’s the reason ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ has endured as McCartney’s favourite of his own songs, forever representing this moment when his friend confirmed his faith in him.
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