Paul McCartney is giving fans a little insight into how he dealt with the grief of John Lennon’s death in 1980. While discussing the making of the 1982 record Tug Of War with Sirius XM’s The Beatles Channel, he opened up about writing the tune “Here Today,” in which he pays tribute to his Beatles bandmate.
“When John died, it was so difficult,” Sir Paul says. “It was difficult for everyone in the world because he was such a loved character and such a crazy guy. He was so special.”
McCartney says he remembers hearing people talk about Lennon on TV, which was something he just couldn’t do. “I can’t just go on TV and say what John meant to me,” he shared. “It was just too deep. It’s just too much. I couldn’t put it into words.”
But, McCartney says “once the emotions had sort of settled a little bit” he was able to channel his grief into music. He explains, “I found a room and just sat on the wooden floor in a corner with my guitar and just started to play the opening chords to ‘Here Today.'”
Paul says the line “the night we cried” refers to an experience in Key West, Florida, where they were stuck in a motel for a few days and got drunk together.
“We got drunk and started to get kind of emotional,” he continued. “There was a lot of soul-searching. We told each other a few truths, you know, ‘Well, I love you,’ ‘I love you man,’ ‘I love that you said that,’ and we opened up.”
Paul notes, “So that was kind of special to me. I think that was really one of the only times that ever happened.”
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