Hey Jude

The breadth of Paul McCartney’s influences is astounding. One of the many surprising places McCartney found inspiration was in the music of his parent’s generation. For 1966's “Here, There and Everywhere”, he found himself looking to write something akin to Fred Astaire’s 1935 cl ...  Show more

This episode deals with themes and events surrounding the Northern Ireland conflict. As such, this episode may be traumatic or emotional for some listeners. Paul McCartney doesn’t view himself as a writer of protest songs. But the events of Bloody Sunday sufficiently moved him to ...  Show more

Hey Jude - Part Two

In June 1968 as The Beatles and the rest of the world got used to the new reality of John & Yoko, eligible bachelor P.McCartney visits his best friend’s estranged wife bearing a single red rose. Totally normal stuff. While driving, a song ente ...

Countless decisions, large and small, aided The Beatles’ ascent to the top of popular culture. The release of their debut single, “Love Me Do,” in the UK in the fall of 1962 was one of those decisions. Their debut on American television was another. In this first episode of seaso ...  Show more

Today we are sharing a very special project we've been working on at Pushkin, a new podcast with the one and only, Sir Paul McCartney. The show’s called McCartney: A Life in Lyrics and it's full of insightful conversations between Paul McCartney and his friend, the Irish poet Pau ...  Show more

Wake up, fall out of bed, and drag a comb across your head, cause Strong Songs is finally doing an episode about The Beatles.

It's time for Kirk to tackle the fab four, and what better Beatles song to analyze than Lennon and McCartney's two-tune casserole of a closer, "A ...