Paul McCartney altered legendary Beatles lyrics after spiritual experience
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This week marks the 53rd anniversary of the release of The Beatles‘ 12th and final album: Let It Be.
The record, which hit store shelves on May 8, 1970, included some incredible and iconic tracks from the Fab Four, including I Me Mine, Maggie Mae, Get Back and Across the Universe.
Crucially, however, it included the title track, Let It Be; a poignant and touching song written by Paul McCartney with his mother in mind.
But, during the original writing process of the iconic song, McCartney changed some of the song’s best-known lyrics.
The idea for the song came to McCartney in a dream when he saw visions of his late mother. As a result, he included the opening line: “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me.”
READ MORE: The Beatles’ final album included ‘genuine cry for help’ from Lennon
However, originally, these words were completely different.
Mal Evans, The Beatles’ road manager, previously explained that McCartney included a line about the work he did for the Fab Four over the years.
He recalled: “It’s funny because we were coming home from a session one night, and it was 3 o’clock in the morning, raining, dark in London, and Paul was telling this, saying I’ve written this song.”
Mal added that McCartney told him he had written Let It Be, and its opening line referenced “Brother Malcolm” rather than “Mother Mary”. He was also reportedly referred to as “Mother Malcolm” by some sources.
The story about the “Brother Malcolm” or “Mother Malcolm” lyrics were disputed for years, until it was proven in 2018.
An early impromptu recording of Let It Be was included in the Super Deluxe 50th Anniversary edition of the White Album. During this version, McCartney sings “Mother Malcolm comes to me” instead of Mother Mary.
Ultimately, however, McCartney changed the lyrics permanently when the Let It Be album was released. The song has been immortalised with the lyrics that referenced his mother, Mary.
McCartney later spoke out about the vision he had of his mother which inspired him to write the track in the first place.
“It was great to visit with her again,” he said. “I felt very blessed to have that dream. So that got me writing Let It Be.”
The Let It Be single hit number one in 12 countries and has sold more than 2.8 million copies worldwide.