Imagine losing your best friend. Now, imagine how Paul McCartney must have felt when his childhood friend and Beatles songwriting partner, John Lennon, was killed.
Following the 1980 death of John Lennon, Paul McCartney was criticized for his initial reaction to John's death, appearing nonchalant as he walked out of a London recording session. 35 years later, Paul has shared this official video explaining the song he wrote about their relationship, "Here Today."
Sir Paul delivers a heart-wrenching rendition of the song live in concert and sheds some light on what "Here Today" means to him. He explains in an archival interview that many people who were closest to John, such as George Harrison and John's wife, Yoko Ono, took to the studio as a method of coping, "[John's death] was just so hard for everyone to bear. Either you were gonna stay at home and just think... or you were gonna try and just do something to take your mind off it."
Paul goes on to say that he was originally not going to write a song about John after his death, afraid that it might be "too hurtful." When the chords came to him, a tune soon followed and within the tune Paul summarized the essence of their relationship perfectly.
And if I say I really knew you well
What would your answer be?...Well, knowing you
You'd probably laugh and say
That we were worlds apart
The fact that he breaks up these two stanzas with the "Here Today" refrain reflects the rift between John and Paul on both an emotional and metaphysical level; highlighting both John's enigmatic nature and also the fact that one of them is still alive and one is not. Listen to the full studio version of the song, which was originally released in 1982, on Spotify:
"Here Today" appears on the remastered Tug of War and is available for purchase on Amazon (2 CD / DVD, Vinyl, MP3).
For Paul McCartney's latest music, news, and tour dates, check out his Zumic artist page
