Paul McCartney is no stranger to controversial topics in his music, as The Beatles' lyrics were picked apart and assigned political meaning throughout the '60s and '70s. He notably penned The White Album's "Blackbird" for the Civil Rights movement in the United States.
Now 72 years old, Sir Paul said he tried to work on new song related to police brutality and the recent incidents in Missouri and New York.
"I was thinking recently about all these protests in New York and around the country," he told Billboard. "I thought it would be great to put something down about that, just to add my voice to the thousands of people walking in the streets. I thought it through, and it just didn't come easily. I'm not giving up on it, but it didn't come easily, whereas some other emotions might come easily to me."
So, maybe we'll never hear this particular tune. But it's got to be tough when a music legend is posthumously breathing down your neck in the writing room.
"I imagine myself back into a room with John [Lennon], and I'll think (about a lyric), 'Ugh, that's no good.' And I'll imagine him saying, 'No, can't do that.' So I'm using him as a sort of judge of what I'm doing."
McCartney apparently had quite the birthday celebration this June and got emotional when listening to a rather good cover band.
"I had a kind of very emotional moment when we were sitting there — it could have been the alcohol," he said. "And I'm thinking, 'My God.' The power of British music finally came home to me. All the way across the world, in Japan, these guys were breaking down Queen songs, and the others Beatles songs. They were replicating them amazingly. They got all the orchestra parts on 'I Am the Walrus.' They may not even speak the language that well, but they speak these songs beautifully.
Check out Paul's latest Tonight Show appearance with Jimmy Fallon, in which he discussed Ringo Starr's selection into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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