Sir Paul McCartney on songwriting: ‘I never think I know how to do this’

Still unsure: Sir Paul McCartney is humble when it comes to his songwriting skills
Steve Jennings/Getty
Jennifer Ruby10 June 2016
The Weekender

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He’s known for being one of the greatest living songwriters, but even Sir Paul McCartney feels like he doesn’t know what he’s doing sometimes.

The former Beatle, who has just released his brand new compilation album Pure McCartney, has admitted that he never feels like he ‘knows how to do this’.

Speaking to NPR, the British superstar said: “There’s no point where you think ‘OK, now I can do it’, as it’s a little more fluid than that.

“You talk to other musicians and it’s always the same. You go into the studio thinking ‘Oh, I know how to do this’, but then you realise you’re doing it all over again and starting from square one again.

“You’ve never got it down. Music is fluid and I like that. I wouldn’t like to be blasé and think ‘I know how to do this.’”

Talking about the songwriting class that he teaches at his own music school LIPA in Liverpool, he said:

“I teach a songwriting class there. Nearly always, the first thing I tell students is ‘I don’t know how to do this. You’d think I do, but I don’t. It’s not one of those things you ever know how to do.

“I could tell you “Select the key, we’ll select a rhythm and now think of some great words.” That’s not really the answer.”

Depsite his humble approach, McCartney has been penning tracks for decades, with his most recent album of material, New, released back in 2013.

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