Paul McCartney Quotes & Sayings

If you're using your imagination, you tend to look into the past for ideas. — Paul McCartney

Be cool and you'll be alright. That's rock & roll religion. — Paul McCartney

With the Beatles, we'd been very spoiled because we had George Martin who worked for the record label we were going to be signed to. That was very fortunate, because we grew together. — Paul McCartney

Every time I felt low, I just put on an Elvis record and I'd feel great, beautiful. — Paul McCartney

I just start singing some words with a tune. I don't ever write a song thinking, Now I'll write a song about ... — Paul McCartney

Microphones are just like people, if you shout at them, they get scared. — Paul McCartney

When I see bacon, I see a pig, I see a little friend, and that's why I can't eat it. Simple as that. — Paul McCartney

I just always enjoy it; if you really enjoy what you do, you don't want to stop. — Paul McCartney

I realized marvelling at nature was a deep pleasure of mine. — Paul McCartney

There are two things John and I always do when we're going to sit down and write a song. First of all we sit down. Then we think about writing a song. — Paul McCartney

Linda's at her best when she's doing you a meal at home. That's when you see Linda. She cooks, she looks after the kids. — Paul McCartney

Everybody's talking about the President, we all chipped in for a bag of cement. — Paul McCartney

I am quite happy that the Beatles came and went. There is even a sort of glory in not having it go on forever. There is a complete body of work that went from A to Z and it is all pretty damn good stuff. The one thing I am particularly proud of is that nearly every single bit of it has some good message. I feel fortunate when I look back. Life is not easy, but I've been very lucky - and I'm touching wood as I say that. — Paul McCartney

I guess the ultimate luxury professionally is to be able to change your direction, to work in another medium. — Paul McCartney

And Jet, I thought the Major was a lady suffragette. — Paul McCartney

All at once we see things in our skies, and we both realize it together. Well you know they were wrong, get on the right thing. — Paul McCartney

Criticism didn't really stop us and it shouldn't ever stop anyone, because critics are only the people who can't get a record deal themselves. — Paul McCartney

You guys ready to do this? — Paul McCartney

Looking back, I think I was always musical. My dad was very musical, and I think my mom was musical. — Paul McCartney

In some ways we live in a world where things appear to be very logical, very rational, and mechanical aspects of our world are rather scientific and rather straightforward. — Paul McCartney

You can judge a man's true character by the way he treats his fellow animals. — Paul McCartney

My so-called career is a haphazard thing. — Paul McCartney

As far as art's concerned, I probably like modern art more than traditional art. — Paul McCartney

Late at night when the wind is still I'll come flying through your door, And you'll know what love is for. I am a bluebird, I'm a bluebird ... — Paul McCartney

Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs — Paul McCartney

When you're wide awake say it for goodness sake, it's gonna be a great day. — Paul McCartney

The most important ingredient to making a song work is the magic. You've got a melody, you've got words, but on the more successful songs, there's a sort of magic glow that just happens and you can feel it happening. It just makes the songs sort of roll out. — Paul McCartney

George Martin, he's very good at a very sort of lush, sweet arrangement. — Paul McCartney

To keep the record straight, it wasn't always John and Yoko. We've all accused one another of various business things; we tend to be pretty paranoid by now, as you can imagine. There's a lot of money involved. — Paul McCartney

But you know, as a kid I would have thought of a vegetarian as a wimp. — Paul McCartney

We got into music to avoid a job, and get lots of girls. — Paul McCartney

I took my brains out and stretched them on the rack, now I'm not too sure I'm gonna get them back. — Paul McCartney

A lot of the Beatles albums were very various, and we did it on purpose: We didn't want the next track to sound like the last one. — Paul McCartney

Long live all us crazy soldiers
Who were born under calico skies
May we never be called to handle
All the weapons of war we despise — Paul McCartney

There's nothing like the eureka moment of knocking off a song that didn't exist before - I won't compare it to sex, but it lasts longer. — Paul McCartney

Lyricists play with words. — Paul McCartney

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds actually wasn't meant to say LSD It was a drawing that John's son brought home from school Lucy was a kid in his school. — Paul McCartney

If anyone was the Fifth Beatle, it was Brian [Epstein]. — Paul McCartney

When you were young, and your heart, was an open book. You used to say, live and let live. — Paul McCartney

We don't eat anything that has to be killed for us. We've been through a lot and we've reached a stage where we really value life. — Paul McCartney

If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat. That's the single most important thing you could do. It's staggering when you think about it. Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: ecology, famine, cruelty. — Paul McCartney

I do have a spongelike ear or mentality or whatever you call it, but it's probably a bit subconscious. — Paul McCartney

My record producer [David Kahne] said the major record labels these days are like dinosaurs sitting around discussing the asteroid. They know it's going to hit. They don't know when, they don't know where it's coming from. But it's sort of hit already. With iTunes, and all of that. — Paul McCartney

And I loved Fats Waller. I love his instrumental abilities, his vocal abilities and his sense of humor. — Paul McCartney

When two great saints meet, it's a humbling experience. — Paul McCartney

I don't take me seriously. If we get some giggles, I don't mind. — Paul McCartney

I like the idea that people hear my stuff, and if it's commercially successful, that's a good sign that it's being heard. — Paul McCartney

I'm always writing songs, and I've got a bunch that I want to record. — Paul McCartney

My stepmother sold my birth certificate and someone asked why I didn't buy it back. I don't know, really. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It was mine. It cost me nothing and suddenly I had to buy it back. — Paul McCartney

I think the minute you're full up and have had enough to eat, then that's time to retire. — Paul McCartney

Drugs had shown me little bits here and there-they had rolled across the carpet once or twice, but I had been able to get them out of my mind. — Paul McCartney

When I left the Beatles, I made an album called McCartney that I played everything on. And it was kind of a cool experience. I felt like a professor in a laboratory, just crafting stuff and adding this, and putting this on and moving the microphone, and it was very homemade. — Paul McCartney

That's the terrible thing about growing up. You lose friends. It's inevitable. It's not like it's a surprise. But it is terrible. — Paul McCartney

Buy, buy, says the sign in the shop window; Why, why, says the junk in the yard. — Paul McCartney

The music publishing I own is fabulous recording. — Paul McCartney

It's like a lot of kids; when you tell them someone's died, they laugh. — Paul McCartney

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.
And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,
there will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer. let it be.
Let it be, let it be, ...
And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light, that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be, ... — Paul McCartney

Life is an energy field, a bunch of molecules. And these particular molecules formed to make these four guys, who then formed into this band called the Beatles and did all that work. I have to think that was something metaphysical. Something alchemic. Something that must be thought of as magic. — Paul McCartney

I'm still looking to write a great song ... You always are. You know, you never think, 'Well, that's enough ... that's good enough.' — Paul McCartney

No one is out to break your heart, it only seems that way. — Paul McCartney

Hamburg totally wrecked us. I remember getting home to England and my dad thought I was half-dead. I looked like a skeleton, I hadn't noticed the change, I'd been having such a ball! — Paul McCartney

I think it's something to do with the structural quality of the songs. We weren't actually trying to make stuff that was cool, or of the moment, although a lot of it was. We were trying to make stuff that was good enough to stick around and lo and behold, it has. — Paul McCartney

Alas, it looks like those unsubstantiated rumours about me are about to come true after all this time ... — Paul McCartney

I definitely did look up to John. We all looked up to John. He was older and he was very much the leader; he was the quickest wit and the smartest. — Paul McCartney

I love the past. There are parts of the past I hate, of course. — Paul McCartney

I saw that Meryl Streep said, I just want to do my job well. And really, that's all I'm ever trying to do. — Paul McCartney

When you first get money, you buy all these things so no one thinks you're mean, and you spread it around. You get a chauffeur and you find yourself thrown around the back of this car and you think, I was happier when I had my own little car! I could drive myself! — Paul McCartney

I think a domestic situation can change you and your attitudes. I suppose if you did get a bit content, then you might not write savage lyrics. — Paul McCartney

It's like if you're an astronaut and you've been to the moon, what do you want to do with the rest of your life? — Paul McCartney

Putting two songs together, I've always loved that trick when it works. — Paul McCartney

We would normally play it to Cynthia or whoever was around — Paul McCartney

The medical argument for animal testing doesn't stand up. Even if it did, I don't think we should kill other species. We think we're so much better; I'm not sure we are. I tell people, We've beaten into submission every animal on the face of the Earth, so we are the clear winners of whatever battle is going on between the species. Couldn't we be generous? I really do think it's time to get nice. No need to keep beating up on them. I think we've got to show that we're kind. — Paul McCartney

I'm a pretty hands-on dad and make the most of my custody. I take care of my little one whenever I can, and she determines what I can do and where I can do it. — Paul McCartney

The strange thing is, we never owned our own publishing; it was always getting bought and sold. — Paul McCartney

I feel that if I said anything about John, I would have to sit here for five days and say it all. Or I don't want to say anything. — Paul McCartney

I'm trying to do it honestly and genuinely; if some of it's not working to your taste, what can I say? — Paul McCartney

I don't ever try to make a serious social comment. — Paul McCartney

When we were starting off as kids, just the idea of maybe going to do this as a living instead of getting what we thought was going to be a boring job, was exciting. — Paul McCartney

I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird. — Paul McCartney

One of my biggest thrills for me still is sitting down with a guitar or a piano and just out of nowhere trying to make a song happen. — Paul McCartney

When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted to be was Elvis Presley. — Paul McCartney

I'm not a great practiser at all. We were never great practisers. The Beatles would come together for about a day before we had a tour, to make sure the amp worked. — Paul McCartney

I'm actually doing what I want with my life. I do sometime think I could just shut up and rest on my laurels and say: you know what guys, I'll operate out of the pocket you put me in ... but no way! No way I'm gonna do that! I'd just get bored stiff the first minute. — Paul McCartney

I don't work at being ordinary. — Paul McCartney

I used to think that anyone doing anything weird was weird. I suddenly realized that anyone doing anything weird wasn't weird at all and it was the people saying they were weird that were weird. — Paul McCartney

Where I come from, you don't really talk about how much you're earning. Those things are private. My dad never told my mum how much he was earning. I'm certainly not going to tell the world. I'm doing well. — Paul McCartney

I never look forward, because I have no idea about how any of it happened to getting here. I've no idea how the next five years are going to be. — Paul McCartney

There was one moment where they were riding their little ponies in Scotland, and Stella said to me: 'Dad! You're Paul McCartney, aren't you?' 'Yes darling, but I'm Daddy really'. — Paul McCartney

Give Ireland back to the Irish, don't make them have to take it away. — Paul McCartney

I still believe that love is all you need. I don't know a better message than that. — Paul McCartney

It's like there was me, then the Beatles phase, and now I'm me again. — Paul McCartney

I go back so far I'm in front of me. — Paul McCartney

The planet is under pressure and our choices have never been more important. The Food Revolution Summit is an informative and empowering platform which highlights ways to set a new pattern for the future of the planet. — Paul McCartney

We can work it out. Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend. — Paul McCartney

I am alive and well and unconcerned about the rumors of my death. But if I were dead, I would be the last to know. — Paul McCartney

All we ever got in those [early] days was Where are you from? Liverpool? You'll have to be in London before you can do it. Nobody's ever done it from Liverpool. — Paul McCartney

We live in hope of deliverance from the darkness that surrounds us — Paul McCartney

It's a powerful thing hearing your friend on a very beautiful song. — Paul McCartney

There are only four people who knew what the Beatles were about anyway. — Paul McCartney

I don't have any desire to learn. I feel it's like a voodoo, that it would spoil things if I actually learnt how things are done. — Paul McCartney