Casual asides, goofy moments, sad comments — they all get crammed into a songwriter's mind, and if he's lucky those incidents are transformed into lyrics that last forever. Paul McCartney had more than a few of these, including a very formative one he discussed on the latest episode of his songwriter podcast, “A Life in Lyrics.”
The episode focused on The Beatles' “Yesterday,” specifically the line “I said the wrong thing, now I long for yesterday” in the song's bridge. The oft-covered, wistful ballad was first released on the band's 1965 album Aid! The album is essentially a solo track by McCartney, in which he plays acoustic guitar and sings along with a string quartet.
Maka said he thought it was inspired by a regretful conversation he had with his mother years ago. “Sometimes you can only appreciate it in hindsight,” she said, clearly recalling one day “I felt really embarrassed because I had embarrassed my mom.”
The singer said one day he and his mom – who he described as having a very “posh” accent – were in the backyard. “She was of Irish descent and a nurse, so she was above street level. So she had something going for her and she was saying what we thought was a bit posh,” he said.
“I know he said something like, 'Paul, you're going to ask him if he's going…'” she recalled. “I went 'Arsk! Aarsh! Ask mom.” And he was a little embarrassed. I remember afterwards thinking 'God, I wish I'd never said that.' And it stuck with me. After she died I thought, “Oh, I really wish…” McCartney's mother, Mary, died in October 1956 aged 47 of an embolism following breast cancer surgery when the singer was just 14.
McCartney said he has “a couple” of those little moments where he knows those involved would forgive him, but he wishes he had an eraser to rub away that “Yesterday” moment. “That would be better,” he said, before launching into the bridge of the song that's been covered more than 2,000 times and wondering if he sometimes “unconsciously” turns scripts into “girl” lyrics when he's really thinking about his dead mother.
Click here to hear McCartney talk about the origins of “Yesterday” (the bridge discussion starts around 25:15)
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/pop/paul-mccartney-embarrassing-yesterday-lyric-inspiration-mom-1235614785/