Paul McCartney Wrote a Song to Air Out His Annoyance With Rumors About The Beatles

Fans love to speculate about what happened within The Beatles. However, the only people who know what happened are the band members. While John Lennon and George Harrison are no longer here to tell their stories, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr can still set the record straight on certain Beatles rumors. McCartney is often annoyed with fans who believe they know everything and wrote a song calling them out. 

Paul McCartney wrote the song ‘Early Days’ in response to the myths about The Beatles

There are many theories and legends that continue to draw lines among Beatles fans. Fans love to speculate about who broke up The Beatles, what certain songs mean, and which Beatle had specific personality traits. Some people still don’t believe McCartney is alive. In an interview with The Sun, McCartney said his song “Early Days” is a way of saying to fans that he was in the room, so only he knows what happened. 

“People say George is the quiet one and Ringo the funny one,” McCartney said. “I got pigeonholed as the cute one, which was not the greatest of pigeonholes. We used to joke about it all and say, ‘You don’t look very cute today’ or ‘I’m not sure John’s at his absolute razor-sharp wit’ when he’s falling over having had a bad night.

 “The truth was much more believable because it was four very similar guys, but each was given a specific edge to their personality, which tended to take over in people’s minds,” he continued. “So, in my new songs, particularly Early Days, I’m trying to say, ‘Hey listen guys, I was there. It was me sitting in that room. It was me walking along the street. You’re going to have to listen to me about this, even though your other story might seem more attractive.”

“Early Days” debuted on McCartney’s 2013 album New. He repeatedly tells the audience, “I lived through those early days,” and questions how people could know so much when they weren’t there. “Early Days” was released as a single but failed to make a dent on the charts. 

McCartney is ‘grateful’ that so many people still care about The Beatles

While Paul McCartney can get frustrated by the false rumors about The Beatles, he is still grateful that people still care about the band and their iconic songs. Their music continues to be relevant over 50 years later, and McCartney could not have imagined that when he formed the band in Liverpool. He said the stories get distorted because The Beatles were so legendary that people like to create myths surrounding the fab four. 

“I’m very grateful that people still bother about The Beatles because we certainly wouldn’t have predicted that in our early days,” McCartney said. “What we did has assumed legendary status and in doing so, the stories get distorted because they’ve been told a thousand times. It’s like Chinese whispers. Unwittingly people steal your history, your personal history. You know, some people say, ‘Oh yeah, John punched you out. I remember it in Nowhere Boy. And I say, ‘No, he didn’t’.”

There are hundreds of books, documentaries, and interviews featuring The Beatles telling their stories. So, it’s better to get the details directly from them, rather than a fan who believes they know the truth.