Paul McCartney sat down with Paul Mescal, the actor who portrays him in the upcoming films about the Beatles, to discuss his new album.
The two Pauls sat down “In Conversation” for an exclusive short film posted by Amazon. In the 10-minute chat in the same restaurant the album trailer was filmed, the rocker and the actor talked about the nostalgic The Boys of Dungeon Lane.
“How do you feel about being interviewed?” Mescal asked McCartney.
“It depends if I like the person. Which is where we’re running into a problem already,” McCartney joked. “No, I find if I like who I’m being interviewed by, it comes easy.”
Mescal asked McCartney about his songwriting process on The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which features lyrics made up of memories but still “in the present tense.”
“I haven’t got a formula,” McCartney said. “They used to ask me and John [Lennon], ‘How’d you do it? Who writes the music, who writes the words?’ I don’t know. To me, I think any story or song you’re gonna do, it’s gotta involve memory. With the Beatles, we always tried to write something different.”
Mescal then questioned McCartney about new album songs like “Lost Horizon” and “Salesman Saint,” a song written about McCartney’s parents.
“I often remember that my mom and dad had me in World War 2. I’ve always known that growing up, but at certain point you go ‘Wow,” McCartney said. “It occurred to me that it’d be good to just put down some stuff about them carrying on through whatever they had to put up with.”
Mescal then asked McCartney about the actor’s “favorite” song on the album, the first single “Days We Left Behind,” which alludes to his time along Lennon.
“The collaboration you had with them all and the relationship you had with John, it’s such a full, brilliant, complicated thing, and where’s your heart with all of that now? Mescal asked.
“Looking back on your life, I ran into this guy called John Lennon, and he was fighting life — he had a lot trouble, his dad had left home, his mom had got run over, he had a lot of trouble in there — so he was putting up a shield, so he was very witty, very biting,” McCartney said. “When it came to writing, that kind of relationship stayed there, so on this record, I might even refer to him in my mind, as if we’re still writing together.”
The Boys of Dungeon Lane arrives May 29. The Beatles films starring Mescal-as-McCartney are due out in April 2028.
