Quote Of The Day By Paul McCartney: 'I'm A Great Believer In ...'

Paul McCartney is one of the most influential and successful rock musicians of all time for his work with the Beatles and his later solo career, and he's still making music in his 80s. But even with fabulous wealth and his place in history guaranteed, McCartney has had many tragedies along his path to greatness. 

Born on June 18, 1942, in Liverpool, England, his mother died of cancer when he was just 14. The breakup of the Beatles in 1970 and the murder of his former bandmate John Lennon a decade later also took their toll. Likewise, the death of his wife and musical partner Linda McCartney and another Beatle, George Harrison, both from cancer, impacted him deeply.

Over the years, McCartney has discussed the importance of his dreams in both his music and his personal life, and how they've positively affected him. Turns out, McCartney has drawn both inspiration and strength from his dreams, and that's why Paul McCartney is today's quote of the day.

"I'm a great believer in dreams. I'm a great rememberer of dreams."

In December 2020, The New York Times interviewed Paul McCartney about his album "McCartney III," which came out that month. In the interview, McCartney discussed his growth as a songwriter from his early days with the Beatles through the years, and mentioned that with songwriting "you get lucky sometimes."

In McCartney's case, he found direct inspiration from an unlikely source. The main lyric and song title for "Let It Be" came from a dream about his deceased mother, who spoke those words to him in one. Likewise, McCartney dreamed the basic melody for the masterpiece and one of the most covered songs in history, "Yesterday," which he immediately began composing after waking up. Considering McCartney's ability to use snatches of dreams to create such monumental music, it's probably no big surprise that he puts a lot of stock in them.

Paul McCartney's relationship with dreams is complex and a subject he's discussed on many occasions. For him, they have provided a twofold benefit. Besides helping to inspire two of McCartney's renowned songs, in the case of "Let It Be," a dream was also personally important. 

At the time McCartney had a dream about his mother speaking to him, the Beatles were about to break up, and he was a mess. The experience was both a comfort to him and inspired a song that has gone on to do the same for many others. McCartney has also recalled having dreams about John Lennon and George Harrison that allowed him to continue to remain deeply connected to them.

Being able to relive his memories in such a visceral fashion has lifted McCartney up in times of despair, and his belief in the power of dreams and his ability to recall them have been a boon. We too can glean important insights and find solace from our dreams, and can emulate McCartney's example of welcoming the relief and inspiration they offer.

• "I love when people revisit you in your dreams. I often have band dreams and they're crazy. I'm often with John and just talking about something, and I come to get my Hofner bass, ready to play, and it's covered in sticky tape. You know, dreams."

• "I remember when John and I were first hanging out together, I had a dream about digging in the garden with my hands. I'd dreamt that before but I'd never found anything other than an old tin can. But in this dream I found a gold coin. I kept digging and I found another. And another. The next day I told John about this amazing dream I'd had and he said, 'That's funny, I had the same dream."

• "I do dream. Every time I sleep I 'ave a dream. I 'ave some good 'uns and a lot of bad 'uns. But that's the reason you dream isn't it — to get rid of all the nasty thoughts you've been storing up throughout the day. Actually, from what I read dreams are supposed to be a sort of release from tension and reality. All your subconscious troubles come to the surface."

• "'Yesterday' came out of the blue, I've no idea where from. I dreamed the melody. I woke up and I had the melody in my head."

• "I often have dreams about John or George. I often dream about the people who aren't here anymore. I think it's one of the great things about dreams, because you get to re-meet them. You know, you get to hang out with them."

• "One night during this tense time I had a dream I saw my mum, who'd been dead 10 years or so. And it was so great to see her because that's a wonderful thing about dreams: you actually are reunited with that person for a second; there they are and you appear to both be physically together again. It was so wonderful for me and she was very reassuring. In the dream she said, 'It'll be all right.'"