McCartney wishes for more time with mom

Singer Paul McCartney performs at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion, 2012.

Singer Paul McCartney performs at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion, 2012.

Published Feb 27, 2013

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London - His mother died when he was barely into his teens.

So it’s little wonder that when asked what he’d do if he had a time machine, Sir Paul McCartney’s response was simple: ‘Go back and spend time with my mom.’

He made the touching reply in answer to a fan from Brazil, whose question was picked from more than 10,000 submitted to his website (www.paulmccartney.com) in a new monthly feature.

Sir Paul’s mother, Mary, was a midwife. She died at the age of 47 from an embolism, following surgery to treat breast cancer. Sir Paul, her eldest son, was just 14.

The 70-year-old Beatle has previously described how his mother inspired the song Let It Be, which he wrote after she appeared to him in a dream.

He said Mary contributed “a good half” to the family income. The McCartneys were too poor to have a car, but they “just about had a television”.

He added: “At night when she came home, she would cook, so we didn’t have a lot of time with each other. But she was just a very comforting presence in my life.”

Of the dream, he said: “My mother appeared, and there was her face, completely clear, particularly her eyes, and she said to me very gently, very reassuringly: ‘Let it be’.

“It was lovely. I woke up with a great feeling. It was really like she had visited me at this very difficult point in my life and gave me this message: Be gentle, don’t fight things, just try and go with the flow and it will all work out.

“So, being a musician, I went right over to the piano and started writing a song: ‘When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me?…?speaking words of wisdom, let it be.’”

He added that he got together with Linda, his first wife, shortly afterwards, saying “it was as if my mum had sent her”.

Let It Be was released as a single in 1970, and went on to become one of The Beatles’ best-loved hits.

The album of the same title was released in May of that year, shortly after the band announced they were splitting up. - Daily Mail

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