Sir Paul McCartney was moved to tears on the latest edition of Good Hang with Amy Poehler as he discussed the legacy of his late wife, Linda. The 84-year-old musician was married to Linda from 1969 until her death from breast cancer in 1998.
Emotional memories of Linda
During the chat, Sir Paul reflected on Linda's principled animal rights campaigning, saying: "Linda was very outspoken on that subject to the point where. If it hadn't been her, it would be embarrassing. If you're at a dinner party and somebody is eating meat. She would give them trouble for it."
He became visibly emotional when speaking about her caring nature, adding: "She had this Disney-esque view of animals. If she saw a frog in a garden, she would pick it up. Not every girl would. I'm getting emotional now, but the way she would hold things, it wouldn't hurt it. She would say it's mummy loved it. Even if it was a frog, it was a Disney frog to here. She was something else."
Amy handed Sir Paul a tissue to wipe away his tears as she referenced the way his romance with Linda was captured in the documentary Man on the Run. She said: "It was a testament to what respectful, beautiful, mutual love looks like."
Fans react to rare moment
Viewers on YouTube took to the comments to say how touching it was to see Sir Paul so emotional. @Allnet9919 said: "Seeing Paul get emotional, crushed me." Bob commented: "I'm over 60, never saw him like that before." @tarcrystals posted: "Me too. A wildly rare moment for him." Another user said: "When he started talking about Linda, I kind of lost it. It's so obvious he absolutely adored her." Kerrilea added: "Grief of a loved one never fully goes away. Seeing him tear up over how she held a frog is about the sweetest thing I have ever seen."
Reflections on childhood and new album
The interview also saw Sir Paul reflect on his earliest memory, saying he thinks he can recall some aspects of being born in Walton hospital. He said: "You don't know if you've made it up, but I have this feeling that I remember being born. [Walton hospital] was an old Victorian thing, it had been something else before a hospital. I kind of remember white tiles and chrome instruments. A clanging. I was a forceps birth. They had to pull me out."
Sir Paul's childhood was spent in Anfield and Speke, before the family moved to Forthlin Road. He has reflected on his life in Liverpool in his latest album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, named after the road in Speke where he used to wile away the hours as a youngster. The deeply introspective album revisits his formative years in Liverpool before he conquered the world with the Beatles.
Memories of Dungeon Lane
In quotes given exclusively to the ECHO this year, Sir Paul spoke about how he treasures his memories made at Dungeon Lane. He said: "I'd been there not that long ago. Sometimes when I go up to Liverpool and I’ve got the kids with me, I’ll do the tour. I’ll drive them around. That’s where we did our first gig. And that’s where we used to live there. And that’s where we caught the bus to school.' So going down Dungeon Lane, I would say 'And this is Dungeon Lane'."
The L24 road has changed a lot from the days of the legendary Beatle's youth when it was the main access point to Oglet Shore. The Speke road may no longer lead to the picturesque beauty spot since the perimeter of Liverpool John Lennon Airport was expanded, but this doesn't mean that Dungeon Lane has lost any of its appeal to Sir Paul.
The changing face of the road makes it an ideal reference point for Sir Paul's 18th solo album, as he wistfully reminisces on a bygone era. He added: "It’s called The Boys of Dungeon Lane and about half the album is about memories and things I remember and the other half is about other stuff, not all about one thing but a selection of songs I’ve written over the last few years."
The album name comes from the title track, Days We Left Behind, as Sir Paul explained: "This is very much a memory song for me. The album title, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, comes from a lyric in this track. I was thinking just that, about the days I left behind and I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything else? It’s just a lot of memories of Liverpool. It involves a bit in the middle about John and Forthlin Road which is the street I used to live in. Dungeon Lane is near there. I used to live in a place called Speke which is quite working class. We didn’t have much at all but it didn’t matter because all the people were great and you didn’t notice you didn’t have much."
