Random Thoughts on the 80th Birthday of Sir Paul McCartney

OK fellow Boomers, how’s this for a dash of ice-cold water in the face? Yesterday, when my (our) troubles seemed so far away, Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, CH, turned 80. Can you believe it? 80! There are places I (we) remember some have gone and some remain. Without question, it’s been a Long and Winding Road since 4 Liverpudlian moptops reached these shores nearly 60 years ago . . . a time when many of us proclaimed “don’t trust anyone over the age of 30.” And yet, it was, by comparison to today, a pretty positive time where many believed that We Can Work it Out With a Little Help From My our) Friends. As hippies (or “freaks,” as many of us called ourselves) we also believed that All you need is love, and that ultimately, we could Come Together. Looking to the future many wondered Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m 64.

Well, many of us are now more than 10 years past 64, and still finding both great meaning and memories in the words which Sir Paul and his long deceased (nearly 42 years) writing partner John Lennon created oh so long ago. Many of us are now retired, no longer working Eight Days a Week and looking back realizing I Should Have Known Better. There are days when many of us wish we could board Sir Paul’s Yellow Submarine, Get Back to where we once belonged, and once again Be Free as a Bird. Of course, even though it’s not possible, we still have Sir Paul, the “cute Beatle.”

On his birthday, Sir Paul - who is already selling tickets for his 2023 tour, received best wishes and glowing tributes from seemingly half the world. Included in the greetings was one from the now nearly 90 year old Yoko Ono, which read: “Dear Paul, Happy 80th Birthday and many, many more! From a partner in Peace… love, yoko,” He celebrated his birthday onstage at MetLife Stadium alongside the sprightly 72-year old Bruce Springsteen; 60,000 concert goers sang They Say It’s Your Birthday to their idol. You’ve got to believe that the vast majority of them weren’t even born until long after the Beatles broke up . . . way back in September of 1969.

Paul is not the only rock star to be knighted. The first was “Boomtown Rats” frontman and Live Aid organizer Bob Geldof. The singer and activist was knighted way back in 1986 because of his work on behalf of famine relief. The only catch is that he’s technically not “Sir Bob,” a title reserved for British citizens. As an Irishman, Geldof is allowed to follow his name with the initials KBE (Knight Commander of the British Empire). Joining Sir Paul (who was knighted by his queen in 1997 for service to music, are the Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin who was knighted one year before Sir Paul, Sir Elton John (1998), Sir Mick Jagger (2003), Sir Paul David Hewson (Bono) of the Irish rock group U2 (2007), Sir Ivan (Van) Morrison (2016), Sir Rod Stewart (2016), Sir Ray Davies (“The Kinks”) 2017, Sir Barry Gibb, 2018, and Sir Richard Starkey (Ringo Starr) 2019. It should be noted that In 2003, David Bowie rejected knighthood honors for his cultural contributions, saying, “I would never have any intention of accepting anything like that. It’s not what I spent my life working for.” In so doing, the late Bowie (1947-2016) joined a long list of people who had rejected becoming knighted, from T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”) and Rudyard Kipling to Albert Finney and Stephen Hawking.

As mind-numbing as it is that Sir Paul is 80 and still touring, that Sir Mick is still strutting, doing his rooster walk and is still 5’10”, 161 lbs. and sporting a 33 inch waist, the fact is that they are senior citizens. The now 82-year old Grace Slick, lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane/Starship retired many years ago, proclaiming “All rock-and-rollers over the age of 50 look stupid and should retire. You can do jazz, classical, blues, opera, country until you’re 150, but rap and rock and roll are a way for young people to get that anger out. It’s silly to perform a song that has no relevance to the present or expresses feelings you no longer have.” Just don’t tell that to Sir Paul, Sir Mick, Sir Elton or the rest of the band of knights.

My feeling about aging (I am now 2 months shy of turning 73) has always been: Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. In other words, just because the bones are a bit more brittle, the hair thinning (or gone) the waist spreading and the hearing in need of a boost is pretty much a matter of genetics combined with one’s lifelong habits. Growing stodgy, stolid, sedentary or mostly set in one’s ways are sure signs that philosophically or psychologically, one has become old; has begun losing a sense of wonderment and the need for new challenges. But that is purely optional. What’s to say that we can choose, regardless of age, to continue exploring Here, There and Everywhere; of awakening in the morning and uttering a small prayer in which we acknowledge Here Comes the Sun and say I Will to the new day?

Growing old is pretty much the way of nature; growing up is, to my way of thinking an option. For that bit of wisdom - if wisdom it be - we have the likes of Sir Paul, Sir Mick, Sir Ringo and the Nobel laureate Bob Dylan to thank.

Happy Birthday Sir Paul. Keep on doing what you’ve been doing ever since the days of the Quarrymen some 65 years ago, and do continue on your Magical Mystery Tour.