Paul McCartney Admits ‘Yesterday’ Lyrics Were Inspired by His Mother
Paul McCartney has long said the lyrics of “Yesterday” weren’t inspired by his late mother. However, the icon finally admitted that they, perhaps, were subconsciously inspired by his mother, Mary.
He touched on this topic in the latest episode of his podcast McCartney: A Life in Lyrics. Sir Paul said about the lyrical inspiration behind the classic song, “But the more you think about it, ‘Why’d she have to go? I don’t know, she wouldn’t say.’ Losing your mother to cancer, no one said anything. We didn’t know what it was at all.”
Mary McCartney died in October 1956 from complications following a breast cancer surgery. Paul McCartney was only 14.
Not Everyone Longs for “Yesterday”
“Yesterday” is considered one of the greatest songs of all time. Nevertheless, not everyone is a fan of the tune.
In January, Classic Rock published a list titled “The 10 Worst Beatles Songs.”
Among the songs featured on the list were “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and “Revolution 9.” Number one, with quite the bullet, on the list was “Yesterday.” Below is part of the reasoning for the unexpected ranking:
” … After enduring the ‘Help!’ original for over half a century – not to mention the 2000-plus cover versions – all I hear is a sickly, mawkish, ubiquitous, unflushable turd. And what really sticks in my craw is that back in 2012, the BBC calculated that Yesterday had generated some £19.5 million in royalty payments.”
Interestingly, this list was published on the Classic Rock website with no author byline or dateline. This is very unusual for the outlet’s website and most websites, in general. Call it a hunch/speculation, but it wouldn’t be shocking if there was originally an author byline, but the author of this Beatles list received some intense messages.
Sending threatening messages to an author about their opinion pieces is awful and inexcusable. At the same time, any writer needs to brace themselves for the absolute worst when releasing any kind of list, ranking or opinion piece. This is especially the case when they make rather incendiary comments, like saying “Yesterday” is the worst song by the Beatles.
Even Maxwell and his silver hammer would agree that “Yesterday” isn’t one of the Beatles’ worst songs.
