The Last Words Paul McCartney Ever Said to John Lennon and the Song That Followed

It is no secret that Paul McCartney and John Lennon had quite a bit of animosity before Lennon’s assassination. Rights and royalties, creative control, and personal turmoil are all some of the alleged reasons for their breakup and heated relationship. However, in retrospect, none of it matters as the two were friends before and after the assassination. So, like most friends, they simply had a bump in the road.

It was this strife that would make McCartney’s last words to his beloved friend all the more sorrowfully cinematic. Not only would this moment and the words it encompassed amount to a legendary final meeting, but it also led to the Carl Perkins song “My Old Friend” falling into McCarntey’s lap. For any music fan, the moment and the song that ensued is grave in the sense that it was the full-circle farewell between two of the greatest musicians of all time.

Paul McCartney’s Final Words

It was 1976, The Beatles had been broken up for years, McCartney had started Wings, and Lennon was being the culturally revolutionary he was always meant to be. That being so, the two took strikingly different career paths following their departure from The Beatles. Nonetheless, the two shared what would be their final night together by watching Saturday Night Live. Of course, not much else is known about their conversation. However, it can be likely surmised that the harsh feelings towards each other were hashed out to some degree.

As the night came to a close, it was time for McCartney to leave the infamous Dakota Hotel and head to his next destination. Though, this was no Irish goodbye. Instead, and in a cinematically tragic fashion, McCartney turned to his old Liverpool mate and said, “Think about me every now and then, old friend,” according to Forbes.

Carl Perkins & the Incidental Love Letter to Lennon

Even though Lennon’s tragic 1981 death caused Paul McCartney loads of grief. Their last in-person interaction seemingly inspired the two songs by McCartney. In 1982, a year after Lennon’s death, McCartney released his single, “Here Today,” on Tug of War. In short, the song is a fictitious call and response between the two pals, as well as their tight night relationship and the areas of misunderstanding embedded within it.

However, the song that directly referenced his and Lennon’s last interaction was the tune “My Old Friend.” Released in 1996 and co-written with Carl Perkins, the title evidently alludes to Paul McCartney’s final words to John Lennon. Matter of fact, the song landed in McCartney’s lap by sheer accident. Perkins, who originally wrote the song to pay homage to his friendship with McCartney, actually guessed the last words he told Lennon. Thus, the song took on a whole different connotation.

Thanks to this divine intervention, Paul McCartney seemingly felt he had to do the tune. As Carl Perkins stated, “McCartney really feels that Lennon sent me that song, he really does,” per Goldmine. Weirder things have happened, but, this story between Lennon and McCartney is simply unexplainable.

Photo by: Gene Arias/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank