Paul McCartney has revealed the 154 songs that will be included in his forthcoming collection, The Lyrics.
McCartney’s book will include the lyrics to an unrecorded Beatles song titled “Tell Me Who He Is,” publisher Liveright announced in a news release. McCartney discovered the lyrics in a notebook while he was compiling the book; it was apparently written in the early 1960s.
The collection spans McCartney’s long musical career. His early days in the Beatles are represented with songs like “I Saw Her Standing There” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” along with later Fab Four tracks such as “Let It Be” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.” Songs from McCartney’s stint with the band Wings are also included, as well as some of his solo numbers.
The Lyrics features extensive artwork, including personal photographs and illustrations. The book, which is being published as a two-volume set with a slipcase, contains an introduction by Irish poet Paul Muldoon.
In a foreword to the book, McCartney writes, “I know that some people, when they get to a certain age, like to go to a diary to recall day-to-day events from the past, but I have no such notebooks. What I do have are my songs, hundreds of them, which I’ve learned serve much the same purpose. And these songs span my entire life.”
The Lyrics is slated for publication on Nov. 2 and will sell for $100.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
