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Paul McCartney has revealed for the first time the inspiration behind a lyric in one of his most famous songs, The Beatles’ ‘Yesterday’.
The line in question is “I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday” in the song’s bridge, which appears twice in the song.
In his podcast A Life in Lyrics, McCartney spoke about how the line was subconsciously inspired by a conversation he had with his mother several years before writing the song.
“Sometimes it’s only in retrospect you can appreciate it,” he said. “I remember very clearly one day feeling very embarrassed because I embarrassed my mum.”
“We were out in the backyard and she talked posh. She was of Irish origin and she was a nurse, so she was above street level. So she had something sort of going for her, and she would talk what we thought was a little bit posh. And it was a little bit Welshy as well – she had connections, her auntie Dilys was Welsh.”
“I know that she said something like ‘Paul, will you ask him if he’s going … ’,” he continued. “I went ‘Arsk! Arsk! It’s ask mum.’ And she got a little bit embarrassed. I remember later thinking ‘God, I wish I’d never said that’. And it stuck with me. After she died I thought ‘Oh fuck, I really wish … ’”
‘Yesterday’ was released in 1965 on The Beatles’ album ‘Help!’ and has been covered over 2000 times by other artists, making it one of the most performed pieces of music of all time.
In other Beatles news, a series of four biopics are to be made by Sony Pictures Entertainment in the coming years, with each member of the band getting their own perspective represented.
Sam Mendes (1917, Skyfall) is set to direct all four films. The biopics will be told from each band member’s point-of-view and will intersect to “tell the story of the greatest band in history.”
The project marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd. and The Beatles – Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, along with the families of John Lennon and George Harrison – have granted full life story and music rights for a scripted film. The films are expected to be released in 2027.
Elsewhere, the woman who found and returned McCartney’s long-lost bass guitar is now hoping that she may be in store for a reward.
The bass guitar – which has been dubbed the most important bass in history for its role in recording numerous Beatles hits – was stolen from the musician in 1972, only to be returned to him last week.