Paul McCartney's technique for making decisions
Each direction could work, you think. But you’re stuck trying to decide which one. Well, you might try a simple technique that worked for Paul McCartney when he was trying to finish a song for The Beatles.
McCartney sometimes couldn’t decide on the lyrics for a piece of music he’d written. Should the lyrics be about X, Y, or Z? (Leaving his lover? Reuniting with his lover? Finding a new lover?) But instead of staying stuck, McCartney would immediately explore the different possibilities. He would write complete sets of lyrics for each, and then choose which one worked best. Peter Asher—a member of the ’60s pop duo, Peter & Gordon, and producer of James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt—revealed this McCartney trick to me, years after closely watching Paul write songs while they lived together at the Asher residence in London in the days of Beatlemania. (At the time Paul was dating Peter’s sister—actress Jane Asher.)
Source: Business Lessons From Rock
