Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story

by Bono

I’m sitting in the front seat of a red Range Rover. The driver, who has just picked me up from John Lennon Airport in Liverpool, is Paul McCartney. He’s taking me and Jimmy Iovine on a magical mystery tour through his hometown, showing us the neighborhoods where the Fab Four grew up. He’s pointing here, there, and everywhere. And apologizing. “You sure you’re interested in this?” “Oh yes,” I reply. “I couldn’t be more interested.” “Yeah? Okay, well, that’s where George’s neighborhood was. It was actually a rough neighborhood, George’s. Really Ringo’s was a little tougher. I’ll show you where he was in a minute. John’s was like a little nobby. Not too nobby, but a little nobby. And mine, my family were okay. We were over there.” As he drives, he points out the window. “There’s the 86 bus. Myself and John used to ride there, just gone by. You sure you don’t mind me telling you this?” “Oh no, I don’t mind. Please go on.” Do I mind? It’s like Moses giving you a tour of the holy land. It’s like Freud giving you a tour of the brain. It’s like Neil Armstrong giving you a tour of the moon. It’s like Paul McCartney driving me through the geography of a music that has transformed my life. We pull up at a light. “See over there? That newsagent? It’s changed a bit, but that’s where I had my first real conversation with John.” Now I know a bit about The Beatles lore and wonder if his memory is playing tricks. “But I thought your first conversation with John was when he was in the Quarr...