Paul McCartney, a legendary member of The Beatles, launched a podcast Tuesday about his famous songs’ lyrics.
Every 20-minute episode of the podcast, “McCartney: A Life In Lyrics,” explores one single from The Beatles discography, Forbes reported. The stories and inspiration behind each song are revealed by McCartney himself with Irish poet Paul Muldoon.
“I still think… How amazingly ancient all the ideas are now” – Paul
In the second episode of the new podcast ‘McCartney: A Life in Lyrics’, Paul revisits his song ‘Back in the U.S.S.R.’. Listen now! https://t.co/DhK9VUmUgD pic.twitter.com/idVTSB48iR
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) October 6, 2023
The first two episodes focus on the songs “Eleanor Rigby” and “Back In The USSR,” according to the outlet. An introductory eight-minute episode from July prior to the podcast’s launch was also released in which McCartney welcomed his listeners.
McCartney explained that he “imagined a movie” when writing “Eleanor Rigby.” The musician claimed the title came from “a grave which [he and] John wandered around endlessly talking about [their] future.” McCartney claimed a grave bore the name “Eleanor Rigby” but then backpedaled and admitted he was not completely sure this was its true origin.
“I don’t remember ever having seeing that gravestone but it’s been suggested to me that psychologically I would have seen it,” McCartney said. (RELATED: Paul McCartney Announces The Beatles Releasing Another Album With Help Of AI Technology)
The musician cited Chuck Berry, who wrote a song called “Back In The US,” as the band’s inspiration for “Back In The USSR.” He said Berry’s song was “cool” but too pro-America, so he decided to “poke fun at it in [his] own way.”
“When I saw USSR was sort of similar, then I realized I could set it back in the U.S. and do a little parody on Chuck’s idea of being back, and I would have a Russian guy who’d come from America and was glad to be back in Russia,” McCartney said.
The podcast is accessible via all major podcasting platforms and will be broadcast on various radio stations Sundays from Oct. 8 to Dec. 24.