Paul McCartney says he still checks in with John Lennon “mentally” while writing songs

Paul McCartney has just announced dates for a new leg of his Got Back tour, which will hit Australia, marking the first time he’s toured there since 2017. In a new interview with Australian TV show 7.30 to promote the tour, Sir Paul reveals that his late Beatles bandmate John Lennon continues to be on his mind when he writes songs.

“John’s input was very important” when the two were writing songs together, McCartney remembers. Then, he admits, “These days, even when I’m writing [a] song, I will kind of check with him just mentally, y’know? ‘Does this suck, like I think it does? Right, let’s get rid of it, start again.’ …so I really miss that, and I know he missed [having songwriting] contact with me, too.”

Previewing the moment in his live show when he sings a “virtual duet” with Lennon on “I’ve Got a Feeling,” Paul says, “The first time I ever did it was very emotional. And it keeps being emotional. Because, you know, I’m singing with my old buddy again.”

McCartney also discussed Peter Jackson‘s 2021 Get Back documentary, which he says made him feel better about himself.

“It was really good for me, because I’d kind of worried, in the studio with the Beatles, I might’ve been too bossy,” he admits. “I had kind of ended up buying into this idea that, you know, poor old other three, and I’m just bossing them around.”

He adds, “But when I saw the film, I’m thinking ‘No, I’m not. It’s O.K. It’s just us in the studio, and I’m not bossing them, everyone’s kind of happy to work…’ so, it was a big relief for me. It just made me feel really good about that whole period.”