Paul McCartney says John Lennon tribute song was inspired by ‘drinking way too much’

A song made in tribute to John Lennon was inspired after a night of heavy drinking, according to Paul McCartney.

The Beatles and Wings member hit a soppy streak for his songwriting in the 1980s, when McCartney found himself at his commercial peak. Collaborations with Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder launched him to the top of the charts, but a song written after the death of his long-time writing partner and friend would mark an unusually open moment from McCartney. The Tug of War song was written as a tribute to Lennon, and McCartney says he used their early years of drinking together as inspiration for the song. One night in particular, where the pair stayed up “drinking way too much”, formed the basis for Here Today. The song still makes McCartney cry, with the music legend sharing it usually gets him once a tour.

But the origins of the song were explained during an interview with The Guardian. McCartney shared it was a diversion from Jacksonville, Florida, which gave The Beatles an impromptu night of drinking. It was there the pair got “so pissed that [they] ended up crying”. The experience, McCartney says, formed the foundation of Here Today.

He said: “We were in Key West in 1964. We were due to fly into Jacksonville, in Florida, and do a concert there, but we’d been diverted because of a hurricane. We stayed there for a couple of days, not knowing what to do except, like, drink. I remember drinking way too much, and having one of those talking-to-the-toilet-bowl evenings.

“It was during that night, when we’d all stayed up way too late, and we got so pissed that we ended up crying – about, you know, how wonderful we were, and how much we loved each other, even though we’d never said anything. It was a good one: you never say anything like that. Especially if you’re a Northern Man.”

Elsewhere in that same interview, McCartney would confirm that even now, performing the song can be tough. McCartney shared: “At least once a tour, that song just gets me. I’m singing it, and I think I’m OK, and I suddenly realise it’s very emotional, and John was a great mate and a very important man in my life, and I miss him, you know?

“It happened at the first show, in Gijon: I was doing fine, and I found myself doing a thing I’ve done in soundcheck, just repeating one of the lines, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’ I did that and I thought, ‘That’s nice – that works.’ And then I came to finish the song, to do the last verse, and it was, ‘Oh shit – I’ve just totally lost it.’”

Footage of McCartney breaking down while performing Here Today can be seen in a live recording of the show. A fan who videoed the whole performance managed to capture the moment McCartney mentioned in the interview. Footage of this moment can be found below.