The three songs that left Paul McCartney in tears: “Really did it to me”
“The only way I can describe it, is like this,” said Ozzy Osbourne when he was asked about how much of an effect The Beatles had on him, “Imagine you go to bed today and the world is black and white and then you wake up, and everything’s in colour. That’s what it was like! That’s the profound effect it had on me.”
Osbourne represents the majority of people in his discussion of The Beatles. It wasn’t just their sound that inspired him; it was the timing at which they became famous. Britain was still suffering from the aftermath of the war, and life was generally pretty miserable. The Beatles allowed people to have fun and connect with themselves once again. It was an emotional period for everyone, and the timing was perfect.
Throughout The Beatles’ career, the band continued to show how good they were at songwriting. Every album, no matter what creative direction they were taking, they were able to tap into listeners’ feelings on a profoundly deep level. Paul McCartney alone was responsible for writing music that brought tears to the eyes of everyone who listened because of how beautiful his lyrics and melody were.
Consider a song like ‘Yesterday’, which is incredibly simple in how it’s put together and yet is considered one of the most moving songs ever written. The song was easy for him to put together, as he woke up from a dream with the melody in his head and then put the rest of the track together. “I did the tune easily,” he confessed, “And then the words took about two weeks.”
When writing beautiful music is so firmly built into your DNA, it’s only natural that Paul McCartney could recognise exceptional music just as easily as he could write it. There were a number of songs that he heard and he instantly connected with, so much so that he was reduced to tears because of it.
The first was Elvis Presley’s ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’. McCartney was impacted by this song because of the nostalgia embedded within it. He had been a fan of Elvis prior to The Beatles, and when he heard the song again, it reminded him of the innocence of youth. “It was like I was a kid playing snooker again and listening,” he said, “It actually got me crying, pow. Really did it to me.”
McCartney was also deeply moved by The Beach Boys’ classic, ‘God Only Knows.’ Despite the fact that The Beach Boys and The Beatles had a mini rivalry, McCartney could tell the moment he heard it that ‘God Only Knows’ was a powerful song, and he admits it’s “one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it.”
Finally, McCartney admitted that ‘My Old Friend’ by Carl Perkins also brought him to tears. The words had a bizarre link to John Lennon, and it was enough to reduce McCartney to tears as he mourned the loss of his friend and writing partner. The lyric that tripped McCartney up was, “If we never meet again, this side of life… My old friend, won’t you think about me every now and then.” The words had a significant impact on McCartney, as Lennon had been killed a year earlier and his last words to McCartney were, “Think about me every now and then, my old friend.”
Songs that brought Paul McCartney to tears
- Elvis Presley – ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’
- The Beach Boys – ‘God Only Knows’
- Carl Perkins – ‘My Old Friend’
