Paul McCartney. Glastonbury. 36 Songs. With many lyrics shedding light on our life. Cool. Really cool.

I love Beatles music. As with others of a certain age, some of us fall under the category of a product of the 60s – dedicated to the mantra love, peace and harmony. I recall some hippies preferred the other hippy mantra of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll while some fused both mantras.

National treasure Paul McCartney marked his 80th birthday on 18 June 2022 and a week later, he sang 36 songs over two and half hours at the Glastonbury Festival from 10.30 pm – 1am in front of 100,000 fans last night (Saturday) beneath dry skies. A true outpouring of energy nourishing hearts and souls of many.

Millions of us sat down in our front room to watch a brilliant gig with McCartney able to sing a tender ballad, a raw rock song or sing with lyrics of poetic beauty.  He gave us the full range of songs making our heart beat faster and full-throated songs embracing scream and shout. Some of those there may have regarded the spectacle as getting close to a secular version of Sermon of the Mount with one Love/Reality song after another. That is going a bit far.

I cannot ever remember being starstruck. That didn’t happen last night. I prefer friends to stargazing. To give an example, my news editor asked me in the summer of 1963 to write a photo report on President John F. Kennedy, the US President, attending an official visit to the UK. I was 19 at the time. The news desk received information that the Roman Catholic President would attend Sunday Mass at the Church of the Lady of the Forest Row, Sussex, south of London.  I also had the same religious upbringing. The news editor encouraged me to go to the Mass. An opportunity might arise to speak to the President, take some photographs and perhaps be photographed with him.

I declined to go. The editor looked surprised: “This is the President of the United States. He is the most important man in the world. This is a great opportunity for you.”

“No. My friends and I are going out on our motorbikes on Sunday. I prefer the wind in my face. Send another reporter.” He did. (Dear Reader, Still no regret).

I would have given the same response if it had been the Beatles going to Mass. John, Paul, George and Ringo mattered more to many young people than the US President. Five months later, an American shot dead the President in Texas in November 1963. Another American shot dead John Lennon in New York in December 1980. The following month in January 2021, we organised a tribute to John Lennon in front of the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, India. I gave a talk and hundreds of local people from Tibet to Thailand and travellers from the West listened and, after the talk, we sang Give Peace a Chance, while many appreciated the event if they had never heard of John Lennon.

Rock Music and Lyrics

I listen to rock primarily for the lyrics and their capacity to speak to us. Paul and John Lennon wrote plenty of songs with lightweight lyrics, especially in the kindergarten years of the band, as they learnt their trade. In the Summer of Love of 1967, they prepared and issued the Sgt Pepper album, a masterpiece of music. This album has become the equivalent in rock music to the cultural transformation that Beethoven unleashed on classical musical with the Ninth Symphony. The Beatles album addressed daily life in ways we could relate to. Realism replaced boy-girl romanticism in music.

Here is a selection of six songs from the 13 songs in the album.  Inspirational and insightful, every song on Sgt Pepper serves as a reminder, directly and indirectly, of bringing love and wisdom to the human experience.

• Friendship – With a little help from my friends
• Lucky in the Sky with Diamonds – LSD
• She’s leaving home – Teenage runaway
• Fixing a Hole – Wandering mind
• When I’m 64 – On getting old
• Within You. Without You – Spiritual wisdom (plus a little giggle at end of song. Lovely Liverpool humour)

(Dear Reader, I am currently researching on 9th Symphony and Sgt. Pepper. Will post on my blog in the week’s ahead).

Paul sang three of my favourite Beatles songs last night.

Blackbird

A song about African-Americans struggle for freedom and justice

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of a dark black night
Blackbird fly, blackbird fly
Into the light of a dark black night
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Hey Jude

Song is directed to a boy (son of John and Cynthia Lennon) experiencing anguish as his parents undergo a painful separation and divorce.

Hey Jude, don’t make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
Hey Jude, don’t be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better
And any time you feel the pain
Hey Jude, refrain
Don’t carry the world upon your shoulders
For well, you know that it’s a fool
Who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Na-na-na-na, na
Na-na-na, na
Hey Jude, don’t let me down
You have found her, now go and get her (let it out and let it in)
Remember to let her into your heart (hey Jude)
Then you can start to make it better
So let it out and let it in
Hey Jude, begin
You’re waiting for someone to perform with
And don’t you know that it’s just you
Hey Jude, you’ll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Na-na-na-na, na
Na-na-na, na, yeah
Hey Jude, don’t make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you’ll begin to make it better
Better, better, better, better (ah, make it, Jude)
Better, ah Na-na-na-na, na
Na-na-na, na….

Lady Madonna

A profound appreciation of women, especially single mums struggling. Paul’s mother died when he was 14. John Lennon’s mother died when he was 17.

Lady Madonna, children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet
Who finds the money when you pay the rent
Did you think that money was Heaven sent?
Friday night arrives without a suitcase
Sunday morning creeping like a nun
Monday’s child has learned to tie his bootlace
See how they run

Lady Madonna, baby at your breast
Wonders how you manage to feed the rest?

See how they run

Lady Madonna lying on the bed
Listen to the music playing in your head

Tuesday afternoon is never ending
Wednesday morning papers didn’t come
Thursday night your stockings needed mending
See how they run

Lady Madonna, children at your feet
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet.

In his standard closing song, also a recognition of The Beatles, Paul sang his eternal words of truth from the song The End – the final song the Beatles sang together on the album Abbey Road. I have a photo of this cover on my wall at home.

The End – Lyrics of this short song.

Oh yeah, all right
Are you going to be in my dreams, tonight?
“AND IN THE END THE LOVE YOU TAKE IS EQUAL TO THE LOVE YOU MAKE.”

I sense Paul McCartney has framed his life on this most closing memorable line in the song.

 

A brilliant concert.
Thank you, Paul.  Thank you, too, on behalf of many for your campaigns to take up a vegetarian diet and end consumption of animals, bird and fish.