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paul mccartney

Mel Robbins making a TED Talk.

Towards the end of The Beatles’ illustrious but brief career, Paul McCartney wrote “Let it Be,” a song about finding peace by letting events take their natural course. It was a sentiment that seemed to mirror the feeling of resignation the band had with its imminent demise.

The bittersweet song has had an appeal that has lasted generations, and that may be because it reflects an essential psychological concept: the locus of control. “It’s about understanding where our influence ends and accepting that some things are beyond our control,” Jennifer Chappell Marsh, a marriage and family therapist, told The Huffington Post. “We can’t control others, so instead, we should focus on our own actions and responses.”

This idea of giving up control (or the illusion of it) when it does us no good was perfectly distilled into two words that everyone can understand: "Let Them." This is officially known as the “Let Them” theory. Podcast host, author, motivational speaker and former lawyer Mel Robbins explained this theory perfectly in a vial Instagram video posted in May 2023.

“I just heard about this thing called the ‘Let Them Theory,’ I freaking love this,” Robbins starts the video.

“If your friends are not inviting you out to brunch this weekend, let them. If the person that you're really attracted to is not interested in a commitment, let them. If your kids do not want to get up and go to that thing with you this week, let them.” Robbins says in the clip. “So much time and energy is wasted on forcing other people to match our expectations.”

“If they’re not showing up how you want them to show up, do not try to force them to change; let them be themselves because they are revealing who they are to you. Just let them – and then you get to choose what you do next,” she continued.

The phrase is a great one to keep in your mental health tool kit because it’s a reminder that, for the most part, we can’t control other people. And if we can, is it worth wasting the emotional energy? Especially when we can allow people to behave as they wish and then we can react to them however we choose?

@melrobbins

Stop wasting energy on trying to get other people to meet YOUR expectations. Instead, try using the “Let Them Theory.” 💥 Listen now on the #melrobbinspodcast!! “The “Let Them Theory”: A Life Changing Mindset Hack That 15 Million People Can’t Stop Talking About” 🔗 in bio #melrobbins #letthemtheory #letgo #lettinggo #podcast #podcastepisode

How you respond to their behavior can significantly impact how they treat you in the future.

It’s also incredibly freeing to relieve yourself of the responsibility of changing people or feeling responsible for their actions. As the old Polish proverb goes, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”

“Yes! It’s much like a concept propelled by the book ‘The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k.’ Save your energy and set your boundaries accordingly. It’s realizing that we only have “control” over ourselves and it’s so freeing,” one viewer wrote.

“Let It Be” brought Paul McCartney solace as he dealt with losing his band in a very public breakup. The same state of mind can help all of us, whether it’s dealing with parents living in the past, friends who change and you don’t feel like you know them anymore, or someone who cuts you off in traffic because they’re in a huge rush to go who knows where.

The moment someone gets on your nerves and you feel a jolt of anxiety run up your back, take a big breath and say, “Let them.”

let them theory, let it be, paul mccartney, the beatles, exhalethe beatles wave GIFGiphy

This article originally appeared last year.

Pop Culture

The Beatles return with their 'last' song, John Lennon's gorgeous 'Now and Then'

All 4 Beatles appear together on a song 6 decades in the making.

The Beatles in 1967.

April 24, 1976, was the last time former Beatles, John Lennon and Paul McCartney, saw each other. McCartney would later recall that the last words Lennon ever spoke to him were, “Think of me now and then, old friend.”

Lennon would be gunned down in front of his apartment on December 8, 1980.

It feels somewhat prophetic that the final Beatles song featuring all four members, released on Thursday, November 2, is called “Now and Then.” The song was built from a demo that Lennon recorded at his Manhattan apartment in 1978. Although no one knows if it was written about McCartney, it’s a redemptive ballad about how Lennon found the strength to overcome hardships through a loved one.

I know it's true

It's all because of you

And, if I make it through

It's all because of you


The song was written at a time when the pair had gotten past years of hard feelings and legal battles after the Beatles’ breakup and had considered recording together again. Of course, the song could also have been about his wife and creative partner, Yoko Ono, who was the subject of some of Lennon’s most heartfelt ballads.

“Now and Then” has one of the most prolonged gestation periods of any piece of modern music. The Lennon demo was already about 16 years old when it was handed to the surviving Beatles by Ono as part of the Beatles ' Anthology project in 1994. Although the surviving Beatles would complete Lennon’s “Real Love” and “Free as a Bird,” the band did work on “Now and Then” but never finished the song.

McCartney says the band “ran out of steam and time,” and, in the past, he’s claimed that Harrison didn’t like the song. Harrison would die in 2001 from lung cancer.

But thanks to an AI program developed by filmmaker Peter Jackson that was used to make The Beatles' “Get Back” documentary, the band was able to complete the song. "Since Peter took John off [the cassette] and gave him his own track, it's like John's there. It's far out," Ringo Starr said in a BBC documentary.

While some feared that McCartney and Starr were using AI to resurrect Lennon from the grave, their use of AI is tasteful because it doesn’t create anything new. It just bring’s Lennons voice to the forefront.

“My dad would have loved that because he was never shy to experiment with recording technology. I think it’s really beautiful,” Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, told the BBC.

The performances by all four Beatles over 6 decades were augmented by sweeping orchestrations composed by McCartney and producer Giles Martin, son of legendary Beatles producer George Martin.

Although there are sure to be more projects involving the surviving Beatles and the band's legacy as recording artists, this is the last time we will ever get to hear a new song from the group. “Now and Then” is a fine curtain call that sits nicely along with their incredible catalog of music. It’s a song about perseverance through the power of love and friendship, a theme that’s prevalent in the band's most important songs, from “Help!” to “All You Need is Love” to “Hey Jude.”




Pop Culture

Paul McCartney hints the ‘final’ Beatles song is coming soon. Here’s what it may sound like.

Technology is bringing John, Paul, George and Ringo together again for one last time.

A trade ad for The Beatles taken in 1965

In 1994, the surviving members of The Beatles, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, reunited to record new music for the “Anthology” multimedia project. The “Threatles” came out of the sessions with two new tracks based on late-'70s John Lennon demos, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love.”

The songs were seen as a bit of curiosity at the time because the group used digital technology to allow all four Beatles to play together 14 years after Lennon’s death.

During the sessions, the group also tinkered with another Lennon demo given to them by his widow, Yoko Ono, called “Now and Then.” Unfortunately for Beatles fans, their work on the song has never been heard. But after a recent McCartney interview with the BBC, people are speculating that “Now and Then” may finally see the light of day.


“So when we came to make what will be the last Beatles record—it was a demo that John [Lennon] had that we worked on, and we just finished it up and will be released this year—we were able to take John's voice and get it pure through this AI so that then we could mix the record as you would normally do,” McCartney told the BBC.

McCartney’s mention of the term “AI” had many afraid that he and Starr were digitally recreating Lennon’s voice, a controversial practice in today’s music industry. However, McCartney probably refers to the same learning technology used for The Beatles' “Get Back” documentary that can separate different sounds recorded on the same track.

“They tell the machine: ‘That’s a voice, this is a guitar, lose the guitar.’ And he did that. So it has great uses,” McCartney told the BBC. The same technology was also used on the latest Beatles re-release of the “Revolver” album, where engineers used AI to create a greater separation of individual instruments.

The belief that the song is “Now and Then” was given additional credence when what appears to be a renewed song copyright was posted on Reddit’s Beatles forum.

Here’s a demo Lennon performed of “Now and Then” in 1978.

If the song is “Now and Then,” it’s unclear whether Harrison, who died in 2001, made significant contributions to the recording. However, a 2005 story in The Washington Post claims that he is on the track. According to The Beatles Bible, the three only worked on the song for two days, producing a “rough backing track.”

The mystery surrounding McCartney’s cryptic claim that there’s another Beatles song on the way, aided by AI, has got Beatles fans speculating over what they're going to hear. But that’s always been one of the fun parts about loving The Beatles. Their legacy is filled with enough mystery, trivia, speculation and debate that it’s kept fans interested for over 60 years. Regardless of what the track will be, how it happened or how great it will sound, half the fun is just trying to suss out what Paul and Ringo are doing and how Harrison and Lennon are involved.

This article originally appeared on 06.22.18


Imagine you're sitting in a pub and Sir Paul McCartney walks in.

That's exactly what happened when he guested on an episode of "Carpool Karaoke." The legendary performer rolled through his hometown of Liverpool with host James Corden, sharing memories of the city, surprising fans in his favorite pub, and bringing all of us a badly needed emotional release with his music.


McCartney's trip down Penny Lane was poignant, and his message of positivity brought James Corden to tears.

The most prevailing themes in The Beatles' music are those of love, peace, joy, and togetherness. It's the kind of music that you put on during the happiest times and when you've had a really rough day.

One of the most comforting songs in difficult times is "Let It Be," and that's no accident. During their road trip, McCartney told Corden it was inspired by a dream of his late mother.

"My mum, who died, came to me in the dream and was reassuring me, saying it's gonna be OK, let it be." McCartney said. "I wrote the song 'Let It Be,' but it was [inspired by] her positivity."

"It got me emotional there, Paul," Corden said, echoing the feelings of everyone watching.

"That's the power of music," McCartney replied. "It's weird, isn't it, how that can do that to you?"

McCartney's reminder that things will be OK is something we all need.

"All you need is love" might sound a little sappy, but in these times, that message is more important than ever. And the Beatles' continued success is a testament to how much we all need to work toward the joy the group so often sang about. To achieve it, we've all got to come together (right now).

Watch the full video below, free your tears, feel the full spectrum of your emotions, and then get to work making the world the awesome place we all know it can be. (The story starts at 4:50.)

James Corden heads to Liverpool for a special day with Paul McCartney spent exploring the city of Paul's youth, visiting his childhood home where he wrote mu...