Paul McCartney explains the lyrics to the songs that have shaped his life

Paul McCartney will talk about his new career-spanning book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, on Friday, November 5, at 7.30pm at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall.

The event will be live streamed around the world and available on demand for seven days.

Mr McCartney will reflect on his life, his songs and his creative process with Paul Muldoon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, poet and editor of The Lyrics.

In the book, the ex-Beatle recounts his life and art through the prism of 154 songs from all stages of his career – from his earliest boyhood compositions through the legendary decade of The Beatles, to Wings and his solo albums to the present.

Arranged alphabetically the book sets down definitive texts of the songs’ lyrics for the first time and describes the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

The Lyrics features songs from all stages of Paul’s career including Blackbird, Live and Let Die, Hey Jude, Band on the Run and Yesterday.

Presented with this is a treasure trove of material from McCartney’s personal archive – drafts, letters, photographs – never seen before, making it a unique visual record of one of the greatest songwriters of all time.

Tickets for the auditorium event and live stream are already on sale priced £35 – £55 for the auditorium event and £10 for the live stream.

Ticket bookers have the option to buy a discounted hardback copy of the book (RRP £75), supplied by Foyles.

Website: The Lyrics: Paul McCartney in Conversation (southbankcentre.co.uk)