Paul McCartney has announced the forthcoming publication of his first-ever autobiography, but it won’t be the traditional tell-all narrative shared by most veteran rock stars.
Announced on Wednesday, The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present written by McCartney will arrive on November 2nd via Penguin Books Ltd. The 960-page book (split into two volumes) will recount his career in showbusiness along with his personal journey through the lyrics of 154 songs written over the span of his life, from his first attempts at teenage songwriter, through his years with the Beatles and Wings, and his solo career.
The Lyrics will include never-before-shared materials from McCartney’s private collection including song drafts, letters, and photographs. The book notably marks the first time that the globally-famous musician has published a definitive collection of his song lyrics, as he will describe the circumstances in which each song was written, the people and places that inspired them, and what McCartney thinks of them now all these years later. The songs will be presented alphabetically throughout the book, rather than chronologically as per tradition in biographical-based publications.
“More often than I can count, I’ve been asked if I would write an autobiography, but the time has never been right,” McCartney said in a statement with the announcement. “The one thing I’ve always managed to do, whether at home or on the road, is to write new songs. I know that some people, when they get to a certain age, like to go to a diary to recall day-to-day events from the past, but I have no such notebooks. What I do have are my songs, hundreds of them, which I’ve learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life.”
McCartney also shared a brief video to go with Wednesday’s announcement, which includes a mix of photographs and video reels from over the years. Watch the video in full below.
Paul McCartney – The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present [Trailer]
[Video: Paul McCartney]
Click here for pre-order info for The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present.