The Meaning of the Classic Song 'Yesterday'... McCartney Says "Sorry Mom"

"A Lyric Line, From the Memory of Hurting Mom"

Paul McCartney revealed that a line from the Beatles' classic song "Yesterday" came from a memory of hurting his mother with his words.

Paul McCartney, a member of the legendary British rock band The Beatles.
[Photo by Universal Music Korea]

On the 25th (local time), the British newspaper The Guardian reported that McCartney recently appeared on the podcast "Lyrics and Life" and explained how the lyric "I said something wrong" from "Yesterday" came about. Until now, people have mainly interpreted the lyrics following "I said something wrong," which are "Now I long for yesterday," as a story about a breakup or a severed relationship between lovers.

However, McCartney revealed that the lyric might be related to a conversation he had with his mother during his childhood. He said that the experience of hurting his mother with harsh words in his youth remained in his subconscious and was unconsciously reflected in the lyrics. "Sometimes there are things you can only recognize when you look back," he said.

Recalling the time, McCartney said, "I clearly remember a day when I made my mother uncomfortable and I was very embarrassed too," adding, "We were in the backyard, and my mother spoke with an upper-class accent." McCartney explained that his mother, who was an Irish nurse, preferred to speak formally and differently, but he perceived it as the typical British upper-class accent and often rebelled against it.

That day, his mother said something like, "Paul, will you ask him if he’s going?" and McCartney recalled that he got angry because her pronunciation sounded like the British upper-class accent. He pointed out her pronunciation, saying, "Arsk! Arsk!" and snapped, "It should be ask, Mom." His mother was greatly taken aback and said, "I didn’t mean to say it like that..." At that moment, McCartney felt both embarrassment and regret. He also said, "That regret has followed me until now."

McCartney’s mother passed away from breast cancer when he was 14 years old. Nearly ten years after her death, McCartney wrote the lyrics to "Yesterday." He questioned, "Do you find yourself unconsciously putting a song about your deceased mother into a girl’s lyrics about a lost lover?" and added, "But I suspect that’s actually true." Previously, McCartney had also revealed that losing his mother early helped him express feelings of loss.

Meanwhile, "Yesterday," released in 1965, is one of the most covered songs in music history and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1997. In 2000, the music magazine Rolling Stone named it the "Greatest Pop Song of All Time."

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