I fell asleep on a train – when I woke up, Paul McCartney was there
This happened two weeks ago: I was on a train coming back from London to Hastings, where I live. I’d had a wakeful night with a baby and a long lunch with a television producer – not a good combination for rest – and was groggy. So I slept for the first part of the journey and, when I woke up, Paul McCartney was sitting on the other side of the aisle.
I love the Beatles. Like millions of middle-aged British men, I have all their records in every available format. I’ve also written a book about their White Album and a TV drama, Snodgrass, about John Lennon. I also love Paul McCartney’s music (I was, in fact, waiting to get a copy of his new compilation, Pure McCartney, to review for a rock music monthly). The first single I ever bought was “Mull of Kintyre”. And here I was, on a train and, as I say, tired and groggy – and Paul McCartney was sitting two metres away from me.
From time to time, passengers would hand him scraps of paper and ask for his autograph, and he would make eye contact with them, ask who it was for, and scribble a signature. (The eye contact is significant: once, while drunk, I asked Cliff Richard for his autograph and he signed it while looking at someone else.)
I decided not to ask Paul for his autograph. Instead, I would be cool, and tweet to all my friends that I was on a train with Paul McCartney. I also tried hard not to eavesdrop on his conversation but it was difficult, as he was telling his travel companion about albums he had made. It was all I could do to stop myself from leaping up and yelling, “I LOVE CHAOS AND CREATION IN THE BACKYARD!” like the huge, empty nerd that I am.
By: David Quantick
Source: The New Statesman
