The recording studio fell silent. Paul McCartney’s voice cracked. Tears streamed down his face as he fled the room, leaving behind a stunned guitarist who had no idea what he’d just unleashed.
This wasn’t just any ordinary day in 1981. McCartney was drowning in grief after John Lennon’s brutal murder. The former Beatle had been struggling to process his emotions while working on his third solo album, Tug of War. But sometimes healing arrives in the most unexpected packages.
When a Simple Recording Session Became an Emotional Breakthrough For Paul McCartney
The breakthrough came when McCartney invited rockabilly legend Carl Perkins to collaborate on his song “Get It.” What started as a simple recording session with wife Linda by his side would become a pivotal moment in McCartney’s journey through grief. Perkins arrived with his own creation. A song called “My Old Friend” that would shatter McCartney’s emotional walls.
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As Perkins strummed his guitar and sang the haunting lyric “Think about me every now and then, old friend,” McCartney crumbled. The words hit McCartney like a sledgehammer to the chest. He broke down completely, sobbing as he rushed from the studio, leaving Perkins bewildered and concerned about what had just transpired.
Linda McCartney quickly stepped in to explain the devastating coincidence. Those weren’t just random lyrics. They were the exact final words John Lennon had spoken to Paul during their last encounter. According to Linda, when the couple visited Lennon at his Dakota apartment, John had patted Paul’s back and delivered that precise farewell. She told Perkins he was now the third person on Earth to know Lennon’s final message to his old bandmate.
The tragedy struck just months later when Lennon was gunned down outside his New York home on December 8, 1980. McCartney had been carrying that weight alone, unable to fully process his grief until Perkins unknowingly reopened the wound. Linda thanked the guitarist for giving her husband permission to finally cry. Something he desperately needed but couldn’t access on his own. The healing power of those accidentally prophetic words would help McCartney eventually channel his pain into the tribute song “Here Today.”
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