The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present

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By organizing the 154 songs alphabetically, readers can see some common threads between all of the songs that may have been less apparent had they been organized chronologically: However, I also felt that John was constantly being mentioned, which is fair. He was Paul's songwriting partner during the years he developed and mastered the craft. But at times, I felt that maybe John was constantly being mentioned for the sake of keeping the fans happy.

The problem, which only strikes you on lifting the second weighty volume, is how are you supposed to actually read a thing like this? By this point you’re into N, where Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five will be followed by No More Lonely Nights, The Note You Never Wrote and Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight, and there’s no narrative arc to carry you along. Sir Paul has arranged 154 favourite compositions alphabetically, with lots of glossy photos. But in the essays that accompany each song, his underlying purpose is to affirm his status as a writer ... what fan will not enjoy a meander that feels like a long private audience with one of the Fab Four? Economist Whilst he has included songs published in the last 40 years, it is the songs written between 1956 and 1980, and his comments about his life during this time period that I found particularly interesting. He is a bird watcher, lost his drivers licence for a year for speeding too often, painted a large shed roof, sheared sheep, bought his first guitar on a loan scheme, lived in his girlfriend’s family home in the attic room where there was a piano, met Bertrand Russell by phoning the famous philosopher and arranging to meet Russell. This lavishly produced two-volume boxed-set, which took five years to compile, is destined to be under many Christmas trees. Roger Lewis, Daily Mail From All My Loving to Your Mother Should Know, the former Beatle illuminates a life spent puzzling how to get from the beginning of a song to its end David Hepworth, ObserverNuorena kuolleen äidin rooli sanoituksissa on suuri, samoin Linda-vaimon. Nämä teemat alkavat kirjan mittaan jo toistua turhankin paljon. Avioeroon päättynyttä liittoa Heather Millsin kanssa ei mainita sanallakaan. Tällainen valikointi on tietysti täysin sallittua, mutta hieman rapauttaa rehellisyyden vaikutelmaa. It is heavy. If they’d tried to make it one volume it would have been unmanageable. The sleeve is nice. (This part reminds me of The Complete Far Side, 1980–1994. It also needs two volumes in a sleeve. So did the The Compact Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, 2 Vols w/Reading Glass. I am keeping the former for forever if I can. I just recently gave up the latter after owning it for over 50 years. It had sentimental value but was 50 years out of date and didn’t make the cut of only about 1,200 books left out of an original estimated 15,000.) British Library announces free display celebrating the songwriter and performer featuring original lyrics and photographs from the book.

It's lovely to hear all about these songs that have become the playlist of my life. Some stories a committed Beatles fan would knows. And there is a bit of repetition. But damn is it worth it with the insane amount of new stories and anecdotes Paul brings in. Everything I do seems to be painted with 'Beatle', and there is always some sort of echo that comes from that echo chamber...Some might regard this as a burden, and some celebrities, like Greta Garbo, have become hermits, but I'm very happy about it all because I think it was a great thing we achieved and I'm very proud of it... I found it worthwhile to listen to the song on YouTube whilst reading the lyrics to a song. All his songs are on YouTube. He has written some superb love songs, ‘for example, ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’, ‘Here, there and everywhere’, ‘Warm and Beautiful’, and ‘Somedays’, and some of his other songs are also lyrically very well done, for example, ‘Eleanor Rigby’, ‘Penny Lane’ and ‘Let it Be’. More often than I can count, I’ve been asked if I would write an autobiography, but the time has never been right. The one thing I’ve always managed to do, whether at home or on the road, is to write new songs. I know that some people, when they get to a certain age, like to go to a diary to recall day-to-day events from the past, but I have no such notebooks. What I do have are my songs, hundreds of them, which I’ve learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life" - Paul

I wish there was more on George Harrison and other people around Paul. I know Paul made the decision to concentrate on his lyrics rather than a full-blown memoir, which makes it harder for him to bring up certain stories. But one can't help to wish for some Paul and George moments, more about him and Ringo.