sgt pepper? i hardly know ’er!

I’ll admit I had low expectations for the new album but I’ve been incredibly impressed with the musicality and production of The Boys of Dungeon Lane. I’m in awe of Paul’s ability to pluck these melodies out of thin air, and after a listen or two, feel as if they have been in the McCartney catalog for decades. How can he hitting this great stride at 83 years old? It illustrates that getting older doesn’t mean you stop growing or that creativity dies. I hope all of us will be this lucky.

I’m really into a lot of songs on this record but I wanted to talk about Never Know because, not only is it my favorite, but a lyric triggered a connection that’s worth exploring, so here we go…

"I love you so much more Thank you will ever know"

That's not in the song, is it?

----

"check on" was originally "find out"

No one ever needs to find out What we do

"Glastonbury is a gateway to the Unseen. It has been a holy place and pilgrim-way from time immemorial, and to this day it sends its ancient call into the heart of the race it guards, and still we answer to the inner voice. She is all beauty, our English Jerusalem. The paths that lead to her are ways of loveliness and pilgrimages of the soul. The long road from London spans the breadth of England and leads from one world to another. The narrow and difficult streets of the city give place to the Great West Road—a name magical in its very syllables, and magical too in its great undulating breadth for those who have eyes to see. It turns off from the heavy traffic of Chiswick, lifts to a bridge, and London is left behind. Wide sky stretches over its sunlit, wind-swept spaces, and so broad is it that cloud-shadows skim its surface and it has a horizon of its own. The traffic is swift-moving and silent. We are in another world—a new world, the world that is just dawning over the eastern hills of civilization."

from Avalon of the Heart by Dion Fortune, 1971

Take me to the mountain top Show me how the waters drop Down into the valley stream below Anytime I walk with you Magic mushrooms peeping through Seem to want to talk and say "hello" Pumpkin pies in the skies Also try to hypnotise You and me everywhere we go Little girl, you're tripping Everybody's flipping out Need to get a grip and slip away Or do you want to stay? When you've got some time to spare Let me take you to the fair Stars will glitter when the moon is new We can take the second bus No one but the two of us Ever needs to check on what we do Butterflies multiply Flutter by our surprise 'Round our heads yellow, red, and blue Now we're really tripping Everybody's flipping out Need to get a grip and slip away Little girl, you're tripping Everybody's flipping out Need to get a grip and slip away Or do you want to stay?

Mountain Top, Paul McCartney, 2026

“It’s like Coachella and Glastonbury…kind of people going off for the weekend to trip out and get stoned. And we go to quite a few festivals these days. We would’ve gone to Glastonbury this year, but it’s not on this year. I was trying to get that feeling of a young girl at the festival, tripping out.”

Paul McCartney on Mountain Top, from The Boys of Dungeon Lane listening session, 2026

The kiss of Venus has got me on the go She scored a bullseye in the early morning glow Early morning glow Packed with illusions, our world is turned around This golden circle has a most harmonic sound Harmonic sound And in the sunshine, when we stand alone We came together with our secrets blown Our secrets blown Now moving slowly, we circle through the square Two passing planets in the sweet, sweet summer air Sweet summer air And in the sunshine, when we stand alone We came together with our secrets blown Our secrets blown Reflected mountains in a lake Is this too much to take? Asleep or wide awake? And if the world begins to shake Will something have to break? We have to stay awake Packed with illusions, our world is turned around This golden circle has a most harmonic sound Harmonic sound And in the sunshine, when we stand alone We came together with our secrets blown Our secrets blown The kiss of Venus has got me on the go She scored a bullseye in the early morning glow Early morning glow The kiss of Venus has got me on the go

The Kiss of Venus, Paul McCartney, 2020

"A Little Book of Coincidence in the Solar System by John Martineau is a mini-treatise on the planets and their orbits, and the revolutions of the sun and the moon. I read it recently, and it's an absolutely fascinating read because whoever designed this book visualised those orbits and revolutions. For example, geocentrically, Venus draws a pentagram around the Earth every eight years. When I first read the book, I was amazed to see these complex designs in the universe, and it made me think, 'Yes, it is magical — this life, the interdependence of everything, trees giving oxygen; there's so much magical stuff going on.' Speaking of magical, when I played the Glastonbury Festival in 2004, I loved the idea that we were probably on the confluence of ley lines, the lines that crisscross the globe and along which our ancestors are thought to have set up significant sites. I like that kind of history. Glastonbury is also said to be the place where King Arthur is buried. So, one way or another, it's a very special place and it has a very definite vibe. There's simply no denying that it has a distinct aura. Ever since the sixties I've been interested in constellations and cosmology and cosmic sounds. Martineau's book also goes into sound — the music of the spheres — where each of the planets sounds a different note. This, to me, is very 'hippie' — this whole idea of just enjoying the simple things in life and being in tune with nature. 'We came together with / Our secrets blown' — we're not trying to hide anything, we're naked out in the rain, and the cosmos is going on about its business. When you think of these larger things, it's all so humbling. Here we are, these little specks on this planet, which itself is a speck in the universe, and yet at the heart of it all, you have this pattern of the lotus flower which at least a couple of religions — Buddhism and Hinduism — have divined as an important symbol. Another thing I learnt from Martineau's book is that every so often Venus passes very close to the Earth; the phenomenon is known as 'the kiss of Venus’. That was enough to fire my imagination. That's really what got me going. ‘Two passing planets in the / Sweet, sweet summer air'. It's as if, as people, we're passing planets — a bit like ships that pass in the night. The phrase ‘Now moving slowly / We circle through the square' reminds me of ‘through the fair', a phrase used in a lot of ballads, including the traditional Irish ballad, ‘She Moved Through the Fair’. The idea of 'squaring the circle' — of doing something impossible — is also lurking somewhere in the undergrowth of that phrase. There's a sense in which every song is overcoming tremendous odds to get written at all.

Paul McCartney on The Kiss of Venus, from The Lyrics, 2021

My young love said to me, "My mother won't mind And my father won't slight you For your lack of kind." And she stepped away from me And this she did say: "It will not be long, love, Till our wedding day." As she stepped away from me And she moved through the fair And fondly I watched her Move here and move there And then she turned homeward With one star awake Like the swan in the evening Moves over the lake. The people were saying, No two e'er were wed But one had a sorrow That never was said And I smiled as she passed With her goods and her gear, And that was the last That I saw of my dear. Last night she came to me, My dead love came in So softly she came That her feet made no din As she laid her hand on me And this she did say "It will not be long, love, Till our wedding day."

The definitive version, of course, is this perfect bel canto by the late great Sinéad O'Connor: https://youtu.be/Tjh1hFg42AQ?is=oVGu8Bl5UXLW_02Q

In this week's article (our first during Pride Month!): "Who cares if we look like a girl or boy? Paul McCartney and gender envy", reader Mason @waxywolf explores Paul McCartney's fashion sense in the 1970s and how, to modern eyes, it can look like a relaxed and fluid gender presentation. Mason explores the concept of "gender envy" and how Paul's image influenced his own gender journey. Not to be missed!

Have a wonderful week, Beatle People!! ✌️