Paul McCartney on Repairing John Lennon Friendship in ‘Words + Music’

Paul McCartney talks about rekindling his friendship with John Lennon in a new clip from the musician’s installment of the Audible series, Words + Music, titled “The Man on the Run.”

The three-hour audio experience is out today, March 19, and features extended interviews between McCartney and Oscar-winning filmmaker, Morgan Neville. McCartney contributed a few fresh musical performances to the project, too. 

In this exclusive clip, McCartney reflects on how he and Lennon rebuilt their relationship in the years after the Beatles’ tumultuous break up. He remembers how the two finally got to a point where they were actually able to “talk to each other” instead of just barking over the phone. Lennon, McCartney notes, had just become a father again with the birth of his son Sean, and so the pair often spoke about domestic life and having young children.

McCartney even recalls once telling Lennon that he’d started baking bread and was getting pretty good at it. He says Lennon enthusiastically replied, “Oh yeah, I’m making bread!” 

“The things that we had in common were just ordinary, little domestic things,” McCartney says. “Somehow that was peaceful. It was nice that we had that in common. And we weren’t fighting anymore. I would go and visit him and we had quite a bit of interaction, and the same with George and Ringo. It was all getting much nicer.” 

Being able to repair their relationship, McCartney admits a few moments later, was “the only consolation” after Lennon was murdered in 1980. “I thought, ‘Thank God we got it back together,’” McCartney says. “I don’t know what I would have thought if we hadn’t and we were still warring.” 

At this point, Neville tells McCartney that they’re actually talking on the anniversary of Lennon’s death. Astonished, McCartney admits he had no idea and says, “The guy who did it is still in New York and he’s in jail and he’s still knocking around — you can’t make sense of it. The world is a very sort of bizarre place, as we all know.” 

“The Man on the Run” expands on Neville’s documentary about McCartney, which was released last month on Prime Video. The project combines interviews conducted over three years in Los Angeles, New York, and London.