Paul McCartney's Eightieth Birthday

I first heard I Wanna Hold Your Hand on a red transistor radio. I was walking with friends in South Vancouver. It was 1964 and I was fourteen years old. Paul McCartney was twenty-two at the time.

It’s his eightieth birthday today.

Sometimes I forget what a gigantic inspiration he, and his fellow Beatles, have been in my life – not just musically, although that’s the big one. Paul and his band also connected me to a culture of hopeful change that they helped create and exemplify. A large part of what I did in my life and who I became as a person was inspired by Paul … and John. Sometimes I forget that – but today, on Paul’s eightieth birthday, I feel it deeply.

“And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

Also, for serious Beatle fans - I’ve spent many hours in the excellent wormhole that is the Nothing Is Real Podcast.

PS: The portrait is a collab with my new AI friend