Sir Paul McCartney reviews his songs as he sings them to stop himself becoming emotional.
The legendary musician found fame in band The Beatles in 1960 and has since forged a successful solo career as well as fronting his own group Wings.
His tracks are known for their meaningful lyrics, many of which were inspired by events in his own life. He doesn't let the emotions take over him too much while performing though as he understands his songs are interpreted in various ways.
"I’m really doing them just because they’re songs. I mean, when I do Let it Be I’m not thinking about my mum. If there’s one thing I know it’s that everyone in that audience is thinking something different. And that’s 50,000 different thoughts, depending on the capacity of the hall," he explained to British magazine Esquire. "Obviously, when I do Here Today as I do, that is very personal. That is me talking to John [Lennon, Paul's former Beatles bandmate who was killed in 1980]. But as you sing them you review them. So I go, [sings] 'What about the night we cried?' And I’m thinking, 'Oh, yeah: Key West'. We were all drunk. We’d delayed Jacksonville because of a hurricane."
He reasons that if he let himself get caught up in the stories behind the tunes he'd end up crying on stage, and that's the last thing he'd want to do.
Despite having a huge fan base the world over and a long list of accomplishments to his name, Paul still feels as though he has something to prove. He knows it's "silly" to doubt his talents, especially when he looks at his mountain of achievements, but that doesn't stop him from pushing himself.
"Maybe I could write something that’s just more relevant or new. And that always drags you forward," he added. "I mean, I never really felt like, 'Oh, I did good.' Nobody does. Even at the height of The Beatles. I prefer to think there’s something I’m not doing quite right, so I’m constantly working on it."
