One of the most important and highly-anticipated books of 2021, Paul McCartney's "The Lyrics" is a two-volume work featuring lyrics of 154 of his songs spanning from the late 1950s to the present day.
The earliest original revisited is "I Lost My Little Girl," a song he wrote in 1956 following the death of his 47-year-old mother. "The Lyrics" includes many of McCartney's most beloved and well-known works as well as rare gems; "I Saw Her Standing There," "I Wanna Be Your Man" (a song written from Beatles band mate Ringo Starr that also proved to be an early hit for The Rolling Stones), "When I'm Sixty-Four," "Yesterday," "The Long and Winding Road," "Band On The Run," "Only Mama Knows" and "Live and Let Die" are among the classics featured in these pages.
In addition, there are more than 600 images from McCartney's personal archives — including handwritten lyrics, letters, photographs and memorabilia. There is a fantastic forward penned by McCartney that really provides a clear picture how the artist's life has been both chronicled and transformed by his songwriting.
His first-person commentaries provide compelling insight into the creation of each of the songs. As McCartney notes, "What made The Beatles such a great band was that no two tracks are the same." What "The Lyrics" further proves is how amazing McCartney's songs are from throughout his long and singular career. Information: wwnorton.com.
Robert Kinsler
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