{"id":701636,"date":"2026-05-29T13:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/701636\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T13:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T13:39:09","slug":"on-his-new-album-the-boys-of-dungeon-lane-paul-mccartney-remembers-yesterday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/701636\/","title":{"rendered":"On his new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, Paul McCartney remembers yesterday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, the 83-year-old McCartney held a preview listening party of his new record at Abbey Road\u2019s Studio Two, where most of the Beatles\u2019 discography was recorded.Mary McCartney\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Paul McCartney is 83. It is only natural that he looks back on his pleasing, introspective new album instead of forward. The runway is longer, if nothing else. <\/p>\n

Liverpool\u2019s Penny Lane was in McCartney\u2019s ears and eyes in 1967; The Boys of Dungeon Lane, with its mawkish moments, Beatlesque nostalgia and Wings-style rockers, is in the same neighbourhood. How does one get there? McCartney takes public transportation, for old times\u2019 sake. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe morning bus is where we two would meet, I sat beside you on an empty seat,\u201d McCartney rhymes on the strummed Down South. \u201cWe talked about guitars and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, they were the subjects that would never get old.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s singing about John Lennon, his mate in the Beatles. Tragically, Lennon never grew old \u2013 he was assassinated in 1980. Another verse recalls a hitchhiking trip taken by McCartney and the late George Harrison. The title Down South refers to London, below Liverpool on the map. The lads shared rides before they were fab:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a good way to get to know you, before we learned to twist and shout.\u201d<\/p>\n

Documentarian Morgan Neville \u2018didn\u2019t pull any punches\u2019 on his new Paul McCartney film<\/a><\/p>\n

The Beatles twisted, shouted and shook the world. Sixty or so years after Beatlemania ended, McCartney releases The Boys of Dungeon Lane, his first album since 2020\u2019s McCartney III. Earlier this month he held a preview listening party of the record at Abbey Road\u2019s Studio Two. That\u2019s where most of the Beatles\u2019 discography \u2212 from I Saw Her Standing There to The End \u2212 was recorded. <\/p>\n

McCartney is not interested in letting the Beatles go, and he\u2019s earned that right. <\/p>\n

The album-opening As You Lie There, about the girl who got away, toggles between spoken-word wistfulness and vintage Wings rowdiness. \u201cI used to walk past your house, every night I\u2019d look up at your window,\u201d McCartney says . \u201cThe light was on. I saw your silhouette on the blind.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bit creepy, from the guy who once sang \u201cshe was just 17, you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

McCartney is not interested in letting the Beatles go, and he\u2019s earned that right.Universal Music Group\/Supplied<\/p>\n

On the crunchy rocker Lost Horizon, McCartney reminisces about a time when his future was wide open, with no end in sight: \u201cEvery day we spent there was the start of the first day of forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ringo Starr, the other surviving Beatle, shares vocals with his former bandmate on Home to Us, an ELO-style number about Liverpool. A line about a mom burning the toast is McCartney\u2019s best breakfast-based reference since a famous Beatles song that was almost called \u201cScrambled Eggs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Momma Gets By is a sentimental, cinematic story-song with strings and piano. Imagine Eleanor Rigby singing My Love. With the waltzing Salesman Saint, McCartney remembers his parents and the 1940s, complete with the whimsical inclusion of swinging big-band horns. <\/p>\n

The album\u2019s lead single, Days We Left Behind, was released in March. Notes are picked on an acoustic guitar; memoires are preserved in black and white.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane’ features mawkish moments, Beatlesque nostalgia and Wings-style rockers, writes Brad Wheeler.Universal Music Group\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Nothing ever stays<\/p>\n

Nothing comes to mind<\/p>\n

No one can erase<\/p>\n

The days we left behind<\/p>\n

After McCartney\u2019s recent performance of the song on Saturday Night Live, critics complained about the octogenarian\u2019s strained singing. His vocals sound better on the record \u2212 multiple takes and studio tricks can do wonders. <\/p>\n

No one can erase the days (and a gift for melodies) McCartney clearly hasn\u2019t left behind. His current day, as represented by The Boys of Dungeon Lane, isn\u2019t so bad either. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Earlier this month, the 83-year-old McCartney held a preview listening party of his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341,2922,208],"class_list":["post-701636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-noastack","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}