Lyrics

"What I have are my songs, they span my whole life." Paul McCartney "Countless times I have been asked to write an autobiography, but there has never been the right time. I was usually raising children or on tour - neither of which is ideal if you want to concentrate for long periods of time. The only thing that always worked, whether at home or on the road, was writing songs. Once people reach a certain age, they like to refer back to diaries or diaries, remembering past events day by day, but I don't have any such records. What I do have are my songs - hundreds of them - and they actually serve the same purpose. They span my whole life because I instinctively started writing songs at the age of fourteen when I got my first guitar back home in Liverpool. I haven't stopped since." Paul McCartney In this extraordinary book, Paul McCartney looks at his life and work through the prism of 161 of his own songs. Arranged in alphabetical order, these songs range from his earliest musical attempts to classics of pop history such as "Hey Jude", "Yesterday" or "Let it Be"; through to his most recent compositions, an autobiographical kaleidoscope in which McCartney tells the stories of how his songs came about, the people and places that influenced him and what he thinks about his songs today. In this way - a life in songs - a completely unique musician's memoir has been created that allows Paul McCartney's voice and personality to be felt on every page. Previously unknown treasures from McCartney's private archive - sketches, letters and, above all, photographs - also make "Lyrics" a unique visual document about one of the most successful musicians of the 20th century. This inexpensive paperback edition in one volume contains seven new songs as an encore, including "Bluebird", "Hello, Goodbye" and "Magical Mystery Tour". "Half a century of music history, one of the most beautiful books of the year." Elke Heidenreich, Spiegel Online The compact edition of the two-volume original With seven more songs "A tremendous work and it doesn't hurt that you sing along with the song behind almost every line in your mind." Claus Kleber "A world cultural heritage in itself." Julian Weber, taz McCartney describes encounters with the greats of his time: Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Willem de Kooning, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jackson and many more.