Paul McCartney Says a Clip From ‘Get Back’ Helped Him Forgive Himself Over The Beatles Breakup

Many people have their own theories about why The Beatles broke up. Some blame Yoko One, some blame John Lennon, and some blame Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney has denied being the reason The Beatles broke up, but may not have been a hundred percent sure. A recent clip from The Beatles: Get Back helped him forgive himself over the band’s breakup. 

‘Get Back’ featured never-before-seen footage of The Beatles

In 2021, Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson released his three-part eight-hour documentary The Beatles: Get Back on Disney+. The documentary featured re-cut footage from the 1970 Let it Be documentary, which featured a behind-the-scenes look at the end of The Beatles. 

While Let it Be didn’t point a specific finger at who’s to blame, many moments showed the band teetering on the edge of a fallout. Paul McCartney was seen as overbearing in recording sessions, John Lennon would bring his wife Yoko Ono to the studio, to the band’s dismay, and George Harrison quit in the middle of a session. In an interview on the Fly on the Wall podcast with David Spade and Dana Carvey, McCartney says he’s never watched Let it Be as he “found it a bit depressing.”

“That period, in my memory, had always been a little bit dark,” McCartney shared. “Because it was to do with The Beatles breaking up, the first Let It Be film was cut a little bit with that in mind. I found it a bit depressing, so I never wanted to watch the first Let It Be film.”

Paul McCartney forgave himself about The Beatles after watching footage from ‘Get Back’

When it was announced Jackson would be making Get Back, McCartney said he wasn’t sure he would like it. He told Jackson that he has spent so many years explaining to people that The Beatles’ breakup wasn’t his fault, and he was worried this footage would resurface those theories. However, Jackson sent him a clip of raw footage, allowing McCartney to find closure over the split. 

“He sent me a little clip, and it really saved my life,” McCartney said. “It was like having an old home movie of yourself. But perfect. And, you know… I forgave myself when I saw that. Because I’m thinking no, everyone’s messing around and we’re all messing around, we’re goofing around. It’s not like we haven’t got to do anything in a month’s time…with these songs we haven’t written yet.”

McCartney always thought he was ‘too bossy’

The reason why McCartney could forgive himself was that he always thought he was “too bossy” toward the other members of The Beatles. The footage showed them messing around and having fun, proving McCartney wasn’t as overbearing as he thought. 

“When I saw the film, I’m not being bossy at all,” he expressed. “I’m just trying to get people to work. I’m just trying to get us, you know, to ‘Come on, guys,’ you know. ‘It’s two weeks off,’ you know…So, I forgave myself, I let myself off. I thought, yeah, that’s all I was trying to do. I wasn’t trying to be pushy, or I was just trying to get the work done. And the other aspect I thought was great is the way we just goofed around.”

The Beatles: Get Back is streaming on Disney+.