Paul McCartney's THE LYRICS returns in paperback

A new one-volume edition of Paul McCartney’s THE LYRICS: 1956 to the Present, to be published in paperback on November 7, 2023. Returning after its #1 New York Times bestselling run in hardcover, this updated version of THE LYRICS features additional commentaries on iconic songs spanning Paul McCartney's unparalleled musical career.

Those seven new song commentaries include:

·       Bluebird

·       Day Tripper

·       English Tea

·       Every Night

·       Hello Goodbye

·       Magical Mystery Tour

·       Step Inside Love

When THE LYRICS published in 2021 to worldwide acclaim, it was heralded as a one-of-a-kind self-portrait of McCartney, earning Book of the Year by Barnes & Noble and Waterstones, and winning a British Book Award. Critics reveled in "how deeply he is steeped in literary history and how much his output as a songwriter has in common with the works of the likes of Dickens and Shakespeare" (New York Times Book Review).

Finally in paperback, this new edition of THE LYRICS further celebrates the breadth of that creative life and musical genius, covering sixty-six years through 161 songs-from early days in Liverpool, the global pop cultural domination of The Beatles, the '70s radio gold of Wings, and Paul's prolific and still peaking solo career.

Arranged alphabetically with a treasure trove of material from McCartney's personal archive - drafts, letters, photographs - never seen before the 2021 publication, THE LYRICS establishes definitive texts of these songs for the first time and describes the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what Paul thinks of them now.

Seven new song commentaries elaborate more on these themes, whether mulling over the romantic yearning in Vera Lynn's "We'll Meet Again" (Bluebird), the playful double entendres meant to trip up BBC censors (Day Tripper), the call and response power of a song (Every Night), the challenge and pleasure of writing for other performers (Step Inside Love), and the unlikely experience of serenading astronauts (English Tea).

With a personal foreword by McCartney and edited and introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon, THE LYRICS is the definitive literary chronicle of one of musical history's most enduring treasures.

Born in Liverpool in 1942, Paul McCartney was raised in the city and educated at the Liverpool Institute. In June 2023 he published a collection of his photography, 1964: Eyes of the Storm, in conjunction with an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Since writing his first song at 14, McCartney has dreamed and dared to be different. He lives in England.

Paul Muldoon is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of fourteen full-length collections of poetry, including the recent collection Howdie-Skelp.

 

US product information: 
THE LYRICS: 1956 to the Present 
Paul McCartney, edited with an introduction by Paul Muldoon 
ISBN: 9781324094098 
Liveright Publishing 
$30   
One volume paperback 
624 pages