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Elfman: Of all the people in the 20th century, you're one of the very few who can think of yourself still being played 400 years from now. That's sort of a musician's dream, I would think.
McCartney: It is great. We just feel very lucky. I think every aspect of my career, I've been trying to, sort of, do well. I never got that feeling like, "That's enough." And you know, I have done quite a lot of stuff. I've just enjoyed it. That's the secret.
Elfman: Can you give me an example of some of the songs (that will be played in concert)?
McCartney: Yeah, I mean, I'd probably want to hear "Maybe I'm Amazed." And the stuff you wouldn't leave out, like, maybe "Let It Be" and "Hey Jude." ... And the list got longer and longer. I was trying to do about an hour-and-a-half, but it ended up more like 2:15.
Elfman: When I was listening to the (latest) album, it seemed that there were some obvious nods to Linda. But I didn't want to make that assumption. Maybe "Lonely Road." Even the cover (of the liner notes) has half of the Wings' hands (on it) I wasn't sure if that was intentional or not.
McCartney: Well, that wasn't intentional. That's always been one of those things; people read in stuff. But I don't mind people reading in stuff. It's just the way it is. No, that wasn't intentional. But "Magic" was about Linda, the song on the album, that was directly about her.
(Note: "Magic" starts: "There must have been magic the night that we met. If I hadn't stopped you, I'd always regret. A few minutes later, you'd have been out that door, and I'd have been lonely, forever more.")
Elfman: Do you have any songs that you just can't play anymore, not necessarily having to do with Linda, but feelings you don't have anymore for a song, or that are too painful to remember?
McCartney: No, I don't think so, you know. Um, no. There may be some that get near that, but I generally, I kind of like the song for what it is. So for instance, I'm doing "My Love" in the set, which was written for Linda. But I remember that the audience takes it for themselves. I will always see, like, a couple. A guy puts his arm around the girl and they snuggle down, and I do "My Love." I remember I used to announce, "for all the lovers in the audience." ...
I don't think there really is anything that's too painful, not that I can think of. The stuff that is very emotional, I don't really mind that. I quite like to get in touch with my emotions. Especially, now. I'm not like an 18-year-old. I would have gotten embarrassed when I was 18. I don't get embarrassed now.
Elfman: You have always seemed so even-keeled. That's a great trait.
McCartney: Oh, yeah. Well, you know, I came from a really cool family in Liverpool. I go back up there now, and I'm like nothing amongst them. I'm just one of the family. And they just treat me like, (raising his voice for a joke) they treat me like dirt, man! They just treat me like Paul. It's not like, "Our Paul!" It's not like, "Oh, the big famous guy's arrived." And I just stand around, and I am just one of them. ...
When you come up in a family like that, it's kind of valuable to keep your feet on the ground. It sort of helps you with yourself. You don't get too crazy in your own head.
Elfman: I don't think that trait is in abundant supply, necessarily, among superstars.
McCartney: No, it's true. I read an article the other day, and I was just sort of, it seemed like the person was just so sort of horrible, just not a nice person.
You know, I say I'm from the working class. I still say I'm a working-class guy. That's how I want to feel. And I know, if you're really sort of over-the-top and big-headed and mean to people, it's OK while you're in the room, 'cause you're the boss, and you can do all that. But the minute you leave the room, I know what people do: "Oh yeah, screw him. What a jerk he was." And that's not particularly how I want people to perceive me. I'd rather just get on with people.
Elfman: So what do you think about the evolution of your voice? I think you're turning 60 this year, is that right?
McCartney: It can't be me. I was just saying, "Someone falsified my birth certificate." I think I got framed, man. ...
I have actually got a CD that someone gave me for this tour of a, like, a voice warm-up thing. But I just haven't listened to it, yet. I haven't done any of that my whole career. I just assumed it'd be all right. And you know, so far, so good.
Elfman: You've abused your vocal chords some. You used to smoke, didn't you?
McCartney: I used to smoke? Yeah, I did used to smoke a lot. I used to smoke Senior Service (cigarettes) without tips. Those were, like, the kind of things sailors smoked, man. ... Those were like really butch. But, um, luckily I gave those up quite a number of years ago. ... I wish I did things (to protect the voice), but I don't do anything. I cross me fingers. That's really what I do.
Elfman: What do you think the biggest mistake musicians make is?
McCartney: Musicians make? Um, believing their own myths, I think. ... There are some musicians who don't make mistakes. Someone like Eric Clapton, I don't spot him making too many mistakes.
But there are some people who just get too big for their own boots. The one we talked about before? I think it's a very destructive thing. I don't think it's good for you or yourself. It's certainly not good for the people around you.
Elfman: What about when you hear music? You must think, "That's a mistake, and that's a common mistake." Is there a common denominator, how people could make better songs?
McCartney: I don't know, really. This is a bit of a difficult question. ... I tend to sort of listen to music, spot the good stuff, sort of ignore the mistakes. And I just sort of think, "Wow, that's great." I'm a pretty positive person, you know, and I do try to see the good in everything. It just seems to me to be a good idea, because life is tough.
You know, I mean, my friend George just died. I saw him a couple of weeks before he died. But what I hold onto is the fact that when I last saw him, we held hands for a couple of hours. And you know, guys from Liverpool don't hold hands. So I just look at that and think, "Of course, it was mightily sad saying goodbye to George, but I got to hold his hand." And I concentrate on that aspect of it, which makes me feel better.
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