The Paul McCartney Lyric that Imagined the Conversation He Wished He Could Have With
The pressure on Paul McCartney to deliver some kind of statement in song summing up his feelings about John Lennon’s death must have been immense. How easily he could have misjudged the task and come up with something Lennon himself likely would have criticized as sappy.
McCartney managed to sidestep all of that by taking an honest look at his relationship with his ex-partner in the 1982 song “Here Today.” In so doing, he ended up delivering perhaps the most touching tribute of all to Lennon.
How could a songwriter possibly address a situation as tragic as the sudden, senseless death of John Lennon? Many did, and some did so quite admirably. (Elton John/Bernie Taupin, Paul Simon, and another Beatle, George Harrison, come to mind.) But expecting Paul McCartney to do it was another story.
Of course, McCartney is one of the finest songwriters of any era, so his skill was never the question. But because the whole world knew him as one half of the greatest writing team of all time—with Lennon being the other half—it was never going to be easy to put all that into words. And the public also knew well the two men weren’t always on the best of terms, especially after The Beatles broke up.
Source: Jim Beviglia/americansongwriter.com
