Where does your name come from?

The name Paul actually means small, humble, least or little. Penis jokes aside, it is a name that originated in Roman times to distinguish between the younger of two people of the same family bearing the same name. (I was taught at school that Paul meant ‘rock’ and I remember drawing a beautiful picture of St. Paul standing on a rock. So much for that RE lesson!) 

It’s no surprise I was christened Paul, since I was born in the month the Beatles had their first UK number one single. They were of course, the hottest new act in country back then, and having a surname like Carney, it was natural that our Mam called me Paul I suppose. Many people throughout my life have commented on the similarity between our names, and like Paul I was a keen singer, songwriter and musician. It’s a shame I didn’t have his genius, or a fellow songwriting partner like John Lennon. While I knew of the Beatles growing up, I was more interested in Elvis when I was little, and the Rolling Stones as I got older. It wasn’t until fairly recently that I began listening to them properly and studying their creative techniques. It was then that I realised the full potential of their genius and fell in love with their music. A while ago, I wrote a longer blog post describing the Beatles’ lyric writing inspirations here, but these are a few of my favourite ones:

Dreams: Paul had an anxious dream and in it, he heard his deceased mother telling him to Let It Be. 

Paul also dreamed the tune of Yesterday. At first he believed it was someone else’s song because he literally woke up with the whole tune in his head. 

Memories: Strawberry Fields is a John Lennon song about his childhood playing in the field in Liverpool. Paul was so jealous when he heard it, he wrote Penny Lane about a childhood street he knew. 

Boredom: Paul came up with the idea for Sgt. Peppers Lovely Hearts Club Band on a long flight from Africa. A technician had asked him to pass the salt and pepper and a bored Paul thought he’d said pass the Sgt. Pepper. 

Real events & experiences: ‘She came in through the bathroom window’ was a song about a fan who’d tried to break into Paul’s flat through the bathroom window.

External Sources: Paul’s song ‘She’s Leaving Home’, was inspired by the TV drama Cathy Come Home.

Get Back was an anti-racist song inspired by Enoch Powell and the upsurge of racism. 

Back in the USSR was written in the Cold War and was an inversion of Beach Boy songs of the times that were about the USA. 

So Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I’m Please Please(d) Me, that I was called Paul. It may not have been Yesterday, but That Means a Lot. Maybe Mum Should Have Known Better, but it’s Something special to have that name. In fact, it makes me feel as Free As A Bird.