What is Paul McCartney’s favourite Beatles song?

28 March 2024, 10:36

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Paul McCartney has written a LOT of songs.

Paul McCartney has been releasing music for over 60 years now, and has written (or co-written) the vast majority of those songs himself.

He's written songs alone as well as with his first wife Linda, his Wings bandmate Denny Laine, as well as one-offs with the likes of Michael Jackson and Kanye West.

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Arguably his best-loved material was recorded with The Beatles, with those songs all credited to Lennon/McCartney, regardless of how much John Lennon pitched in or not.

Everyone has their favourite Paul McCartney song from his time with The Beatles, but what about the man himself?

In the latest episode of Paul McCartney: A Life in Lyrics podcast co-produced by iHeartPodcasts and Pushkin , Macca has revealed his favourite Beatles song, and it's one of his own.

The Beatles - Here, There and Everywhere

Listen to McCartney: A Life in Lyrics

“I'm often asked what my favourite song I've ever written is, and I don't ever really want to I can't answer it, but if pushed, I would go to 'Here, There, and Everywhere'," he said.

“I remember writing this song while waiting for John one day. I would go out to his house for a writing session, and he wasn't always up.

"So I would often have 20 minutes, half an hour while someone told him I was here, and he would get up. I remember sitting out by his swimming pool in his house in Weybridge, which is a golf suburb of London."

He added: "I had my guitar because I was ready for the writing session. So we sat out and started something. It just went quite nice and smoothly.

"So by the time I came to write with John, by the time he deemed to get up and have his coffee, I would have something to go on.”

Of the classic line "changing my life with the wave of a hand", he said: "I look at those lyrics now and think, Where did that come from? What was it?

"Am I thinking of the Queen waving out of a Royal carriage, or just my love can just do it by hardly doing anything, waving a hand and, 'Oh, my God, she's changed my life'. It says a lot in a line."

Despite his focus on the words, Paul said: "Even when you get lyrics like this, the purpose of the lyric is to support the song rather than be a lyric. It's quite liberating. You can just experiment as you go along.

"So things slip out like they would in a session with a psychiatrist. Basically, I always say when I'm writing a song, I'm following a trail of breadcrumbs.

The Beatles - Here, There and Everywhere

"Someone's thrown out these breadcrumbs, and I see the first few, and you just go along, and I feel like I'm following the song rather than writing it."

Of the music and singing, Paul revealed that he was inspired by Fred Astaire, adding: "I was a big fan of Fred Astaire, I still am.

"And unlike the studio executives, who thought he could dance a little, has no voice. I always loved his voice, I still do. And I actually use it often as an inspiration."

'Here There and Everywhere' was released in 1966 on The Beatles' album Revolver.