(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Tue 20 May 2025 18:30, UK
As the years pass and times change, so does our music taste. Certain songs or artists can attach themselves to specific moments, meaning that while some are carried with us forever as tender and sentimental soundtracks, some are inevitably left behind and lost to time. However, for Paul McCartney, there are two artists who, no matter what year it is or what context they’re in, will always be two of his favourites.
That predicament about the emotional weight of music must be even higher for a man like McCartney. Respected as one of the most talented songwriters to have lived, he has truly lived the life people dream about. Everything changed from the moment The Beatles broke through when he was still really only a kid. He has, arguably, had it all.
Being one of the most famous men on the planet certainly comes along with certain privileges. One of them is that if McCartney had an idol, he could likely meet them, no bother – and he did. During his career, there are countless anecdotes about the moment the Fab Four were introduced to vital figures who inspired them. Some of the stories are great, like their interactions with blues and rock legends like Fats Domino, only making them like his music more. Others were weird, tainting the tracks slightly like when the band seemed to become a target of Elvis Presley’s strange narc era.
They say to never meet your idols, warning that it can ruin not only the dream but also the music. However, McCartney doesn’t feel that when it comes to Bob Dylan. Even as the pair became peers and friends, Dylan still held onto his power.
“There’s one or two people who I would be quite nervous about. Bob Dylan would make me go, ‘Oh my God, what am I gonna say?’” McCartney said, still finding himself shy around Dylan despite now knowing him for decades. He told Uncut about his enduring admiration for him, stating, “I always like what he does.”
There’s even a degree of envy, or aspiration, as he added, “Sometimes I wish I was a bit more like Bob. He’s legendary… and doesn’t give a shit! But I’m not like that.”
Since the early 1960s through to today, McCartney’s love for Dylan has never faltered, despite the awkward moments the two have shared when Dylan seemed to turn against The Beatles for a while. But even through that, his love for the music always won out, placing Dylan in a special and permanent rank in his mind reserved for him and one other act.
“People ask me who I’m a fan of, and Bob Dylan and Neil Young always make the list,” he said, placing Neil Young right there with him. As another vital countercultural folk figure, it’s clear that that whole era holds an important place in McCartney’s musical mind. That feeling is mutual, as Young himself has always expressed his deep admiration for McCartney. “I remember singing Beatles tunes. The first song I ever sang in front of people was ‘It Won’t Be Long’,” Young said as the Fab Four led to his first ever performance, “That was in Calvin High School cafeteria. My big moment.” Later, they’d perform together several times.
There’s often a lot of talk about the God tier of genius musicians who sit above them all. McCartney is certainly in there, but in his own, Dylan and Young are at the very top as their inspiration has never stopped moving him.
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