Paul McCartney: “I’ve always been an optimistic person”
Answering a fan’s question on his official website, Paul McCartney affirms once again that he has “always been an optimistic person” despite whatever crisis is going on.
“I’ve always been an optimistic person, because I don’t like the alternative!,” he says. “I find that even when you go through crisis after crisis, you still come out the other end, and no matter how bad you’re feeling it can often work out OK.
“Something I’ve learned is that life’s good, really, but we often screw it up. So I try to tell myself and other people that if we can just work on not screwing it up, it’s going to be better for us and everyone else.
“I always try and see the good side – the silver lining – and if you’re lucky, it arrives.”
Paul, who released his acclaimed new album McCartney III last December, recalls as a boy hearing old women on the housing estate where we used to live saying ‘ohh me rheumatism, ohh me arthritis, ohh it’s killing me, it’s terrible!’
“And I thought, well, it’s not going to get any better if you talk like that! I know life’s difficult for a lot of people, but I think a positive thought is often a great help. You’ve got to train yourself not to think the worst.”
As for Covid, he admits that it is ‘awful.’ “You’ve got to look for the good side, and even though we’re all restricted right now, you’ve got to say – ‘well, on the other hand it gives me loads of time to do all the stuff I wanted to do.’
Paul: “Youve got to train yourself not to think the worst”
“And even though we can’t hug our friends like we wish we could, there will come a time when we’ll be able to, and I have a feeling it’ll be even better than ever.
McCartney, who recorded his most recent album in lockdown conditions, firmly believes that music is a great healer. “I think that you can be feeling terrible, then put on a piece of music you like and get swallowed up by it.
“You can go in into the mood of the music and it’s a magical thing. I remember once, again when I was a kid, I was hanging out with my mate from school and I had a headache, and we put on an Elvis record – All Shook Up – and at the end of the record I didn’t have the headache! So, I’ve always believed in that power.