
I read it and thought of Zola's best novels. Read, not heard, Lady Madonna is a different experience. There are 154 sets of lyrics in this book, and it's almost impossible to read most of them without hearing the melodies and trumpet bits. There is a modesty hiding in the book's bulk, and raw, gentle honesty. the life - McCartney's - seems more believable when examined in these glimpses. no matter where you start, or continue, McCartney seems to be waiting, ready to continue his warm, vivid, erudite stroll through his life and lyrics. It's a big thing of great beauty, and going back and forth through it is a hugely satisfying experience. It is two books, two separate volumes, in a gorgeous box. This vast, absorbing book is studded with McCartneyisms that make you rub your eyes - John Walsh ― Sunday Times Describing it as a book doesn't quite capture the object. charming - David Kirby ― Washington Post With a gravity, reverence and sense of occasion that hasn't been seen since the Levites rolled out the Ark of the Covenant, the complete lyrics of Paul McCartney are published at last. there's nothing like listening to Macca (as McCartney was known in his Liverpool days) talk about the rise of a band composed largely of working-class teens who changed the world forever. His book of lyrics is charming - Neil McCormick ― Daily Telegraph Reading "The Lyrics" is like standing in a master chef's kitchen as he prepares a dish, adding a dash of this and a spoonful of that and talking to us so winningly. McCartney is a playful and brilliant wordsmith. It comprises 154 songs, with hundreds of fascinating photos and handwritten lyrics from McCartney's collection, and an informal, thoughtful text assembled from conversations conducted with acclaimed Irish poet Paul Muldoon. this mighty tome is billed as the closest thing to an autobiography McCartney will ever write. bountiful - Craig Brown ― Mail on Sunday His composing methodology is revealed as a kind of innocent and endless curiosity. or so I thought until I read Paul McCartney's magical treasure trove of a book. Daniel Finkelstein ― The Times I know it all. All that, and its highly original organisation, means you never get bogged down in a period of his life you don't find interesting. The pictures of McCartney and of handwritten lyrics, many of them never previously published, are worth the entry ticket on their own and the quality of the boxed product makes it a tactile pleasure and fun to possess.
The bigger picture lyrics full#
It is hugely readable, devoid of rock cliché, and full of fresh stories and opinions that even devoted fans won't have encountered before. There has never been a book about a great musician like it.

The voice and personality of Paul McCartney sings off every page. We learn intimately about the man, the creative process, the working out of melodies, the moments of inspiration.
The bigger picture lyrics archive#
Presented with this is a treasure trove of material from McCartney's personal archive - drafts, letters, photographs - never seen before, which make this also a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time. 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.

And these songs span my entire life.' In this extraordinary book, with unparalleled candour, Paul McCartney recounts his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career - from his earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his solo albums to the present. What I do have are my songs, hundreds of them, which I've learned serve much the same purpose. I know that some people, when they get to a certain age, like to go to a diary to recall day-to-day events from the past, but I have no such notebooks.

The one thing I've always managed to do, whether at home or on the road, is to write new songs.

'More often than I can count, I've been asked if I would write an autobiography, but the time has never been right.
