What did Paul McCartney mean by “Let It Be”?
“When the broken-hearted people living in the world agree…”
This is an edited version of my most-read article of 2020. I thought it’d be fun to repost it here and now — for all my new readers and friends.
“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be”
In the autumn of 1968, Paul McCartney was experiencing much anxiety about his life, his future, and the state of the world. Still a bachelor, he also yearned to meet someone and settle down.
“I was going through a really difficult time,” he recalls. “It was late in the Beatles’ career. As a group, we were starting to have problems. I think I was sensing the Beatles were breaking up, so I was staying up late at night, drinking, doing drugs, clubbing, the way a lot of people were at the time.”
One night, his late mother, Mary — who died from cancer when he was 14 — came to her son in a dream. She stoically advised: “Let it be.”
“And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be”
“When my mum died, one of the difficulties I had, as the years went by, was that I couldn’t recall her face so easily,” McCartney says. “In this dream, twelve years later, 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.’”
The legendary musician calls the experience “lovely,” adding: “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.”
“And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow. Let it be”
“Not very long after the dream, I got together with Linda [his wife until her death in 1998], which was the saving of me,” McCartney declares. “It was as if my mum had sent her.”
“Let It Be” — released on March 6, 1970 — turned out to be the first of Paul and Linda’s many musical collaborations. You can still hear her harmonies on it.
“We sang it at Linda’s memorial service,” Paul adds.
“I wake up to the sound of music; Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom: Let it be”
Ranging from religious (Virgin Mary) to drug-related (“Mary Jane” being a common nickname for marijuana at the time) and beyond, speculation still exists that there’s a hidden meaning behind the term, “Mother Mary.”
Even after explaining the precise inspiration, McCartney is simply happy that his song has become a “comforting, healing statement for other people, too … almost like a hymn.”
He prefers to leave all song interpretations entirely up to his fans.
In other words: Let it be…
I never knew the story behind it. My guess was the lyrics described a religious experience. I can recall being envious... Great post. Thanks!
This will come across as jaded. When I hear that song I slip quickly into calmness and then sadness to the point of tears. The comfort of Paul's words and voice, then that clean, innocent guitar solo have me longing for better days days when we were allowed to like ourselves and be decent people. Unfortunately as I felt the song this time and whenever I listen to the Beatles I get angry. This is the jaded part. I perceive a group of envious woke totalitarians and their useful idiots trying to cancel the bio-spirit of the Beatles. They have no right to do that. I'll be damned if I will let them remove their spirit from our consciousness.
Don't get me started about 1968.....