The Beatles icon Paul McCartney has revealed the true meaning behind one of the lyrics in ‘Yesterday’, which originated from a conversation with his mother.
Nearly 60 years after its initial release, McCartney has shed light on the meaning behind, “I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday”, which appears twice within The Beatles track, initially released in 1965.
Speaking on his podcast, A Life in Lyrics, McCartney shared that the line was inspired by a conversation he had once had with his mother, Mary, some years prior to the song’s release. When he was a teenager, Mary passed away, but on ‘Yesterday’, McCartney referenced a conversation between them where he “said something wrong.”
McCartney revealed: “Sometimes it’s only in retrospect you can appreciate it. I remember very clearly one day feeling very embarrassed because I embarrassed my mum.”
Setting the scene, he elaborated, “We were out in the backyard, and she talked posh. She was of Irish origin and she was a nurse, so she was above street level. So she had something sort of going for her, and she would talk what we thought was a little bit posh.”
“I know that she said something like ‘Paul, will you ask him if he’s going … ’,” the songwriter continued. “I went ‘Arsk! Arsk! It’s ask mum.’ And she got a little bit embarrassed. I remember later thinking ‘God, I wish I’d never said that’. And it stuck with me. After she died I thought ‘Oh fuck, I really wish … ’”
Taken from the 1965 album Help!, ‘Yesterday’ is one of the most popular tracks in The Beatles’ repertoire. It has been covered over 2000 times, making it one of the most performed tracks in musical history.
Furthermore, the song is not the only effort which saw McCartney draw upon the inspiration of his mother. The Beatles’ seminal track ‘Let It Be’ is a direct tribute to his late mum, Mary, who died when the songwriter was only 14-years-old.
