The Lyrics: Paul McCartney in Conversation

Sir Paul McCartney '08 MusDH celebrates his new book, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, in conversation with editor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon and the Neil Gray Jr. Professor of English at Yale Langdon Hammer. Hear them discuss the extraordinary book in which, with unparalleled candor, McCartney recounts his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career. 

The Lyrics encompasses McCartney's earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his solo albums to the present. Arranged alphabetically to provide a kaleidoscopic rather than chronological account, it establishes definitive texts of the songs’ lyrics for the first time and describes the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

Presented with this is a treasure trove of never-seen-before material from McCartney’s personal archive – drafts, letters, photographs – which make this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear McCartney discuss his life, the creative process, and moments of inspiration.