Paul McCartney Wrote This 1970 Love Song as a Response to The Beatles’ Breakup

Almost everyone can sing along to “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney. The song was first released by him in 1970, not coincidentally the same year that the Beatles, made up of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison, split up. Fueled partly by Paul McCartney’s desire to do a solo project, his wish came true with his debut solo album, McCartney.

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But it wasn’t until seven years later that “Maybe I’m Amazed” became a hit for him. The song is written as a love letter to his wife, Linda McCartney, whom he wed in 1969, and her devotion to him amid the upheaval with the end of the Beatles.

“Maybe I’m Amazed” says, “Maybe I’m amazed at the way you’re with me all the time / And maybe I’m afraid of the way I leave you / Maybe I’m amazed at the way you help me sing my song / You right me when I’m wrong / Maybe I’m amazed at the way I really need you.”

What Paul McCartney Says About Writing “Maybe I’m Amazed”

It was Lennon who first left The Beatles, departing the band in 1969. But it was Paul McCartney who first moved full-speed ahead with his solo career, with McCartney.

Buoyed by Linda McCartney’s devotion, he not only wrote “Maybe I’m Amazed” but also created a movie around the song, long before music videos were popular. The movie includes photos taken by his wife.

“Linda and I were probably already married,” the singer says (via The Beatles Bible). “Because I can now visualize sitting at the lovely black Steinway piano that we got after our wedding. I was playing on it one day, and this song came to me – the central idea being that there’s so often a split between the inner and outer… The elements of fear and loneliness are very much to the fore. ‘Maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you’ is itself a troubling idea.”

There were understandably a lot of mixed emotions from the other members of The Beatles about his solo work. Still, Harrison praises Paul McCartney for writing the song, along with one other song on McCartney.

“‘That Would Be Something’ and ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ I think are great,” Harrison says. “And everything else I think is fair, you know. It’s quite good, but a little disappointing. But maybe I shouldn’t be disappointed. It’s best not to expect anything, then everything’s a bonus. I think those two tracks are very good, and the others just don’t do anything for me.”

Paul McCartney not only wrote “Maybe I’m Amazed” by himself, but he also played every instrument on the recording.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images