Among the track list for the Beatles‘ final release, Let It Be, is “Two of Us”–a simple song about finding a partner to go through life with. Though the song is officially credited to the Paul McCartney/John Lennon partnership, Macca did the lion’s share of the writing. He drew on childhood experiences and his relationship with Linda McCartney for the lyrics, creating something that is at the same time nostalgic and timeless.
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Uncover the meaning behind this Beatles gem, below.
[RELATED: 5 of the Best Love Songs from Paul McCartney]
Behind the Meaning of “Two of Us”
Two of us riding nowhere
Spending someone’s hard-earned pay
You and me, Sunday driving
Not arriving, on our way back home
The biggest inspiration for the song comes from Paul and Linda McCartney’s affinity for driving aimlessly. “Linda and I used to love to go for a drive, the ‘Two of us riding nowhere,'” McCartney wrote in The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. “It didn’t matter which direction we took. Anywhere out of London where would find a forest or a country field.
“We had both been nature lovers when we were kids and we would each go into the woods to search for a stream,” he continued. “We have this reservoir of childhood memories we would tell each other.”
McCartney went on to explain that he was quite the outdoorsman as a kid, building dams and smashing them apart. Linda would search for salamanders and other creepy crawlies under rocks. Their time out on the road was a reminder of both their younger selves.
Much of their driving was out into the great unknown, according to McCartney. “One of the great things about Linda was that while I was driving and going, “Oh my God, I think I’m lost,’ she’d simply say, ‘Great!'” he added. “She loved getting lost.”
McCartney sat down and wrote the beginnings of “Two of Us” on one such drive. “There’s a photograph of me in the Aston Martin, sitting with the driver’s door open and my feet out,” he said. “I’ve got my guitar. That’s me writing ‘Two of Us.'”
Despite having a finite inspiration, a lot of the lyrics seem more or less stream-of-consciousness. According to McCartney that comes from an effort to find “what sings the best”–a songwriting tip he picked up from Bob Dylan.
“I talked to Allen Ginsberg once about poetry and songs, and Allen told me about a conversation he’d had with Bob Dylan,” McCartney wrote. “Dylan had said, ‘This is a song; it’s not a poem.’ I know exactly what he means. Sometimes something just sings well.”
(Photo by Cummings Archives/Redferns)
