Paul McCartney releases nostalgic first single in six years, 'Days We Left Behind'

27 March 2026, 11:27

The Beatles legend reflects on his Liverpool childhood in the new track, the first taste of his forthcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

Paul McCartney has returned with his first new music in six years, unveiling 'Days We Left Behind', the lead single from his upcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane.

The 83-year-old describes the record as a “collection of revealing glimpses” into “never-before shared” memories, drawing inspiration from his childhood in post-war Liverpool.

• 'Live and Let Die' by Wings: The making of Paul McCartney's classic Bond theme
• Paul McCartney's infamous angry 'Long and Winding Road' letter after tinkering is a must-read

The album’s title nods to a quiet street in Speke that once led young McCartney to the Mersey shore, where he spent afternoons immersed in bird-watching.

Midway through the new single, he offers a glimpse into the genesis of the Beatles at his childhood home: "We met on Forthlin Road / And wrote a secret code / Never to be spoken."

“This is very much a memory song for me,” McCartney said in a press release announcing the album.

“I do often wonder if I'm just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything else?”

• Man on the Run: Director explains why Paul McCartney got the blame for The Beatles breaking up
• Sean Ono Lennon opens up about Paul McCartney's "robotic" reaction to John Lennon's murder

He added, “It's just a lot of memories of Liverpool... We didn't have much at all but it didn't matter because all the people were great and you didn't notice you didn't have much.”

Listen to Paul's new single 'Days We Left Behind':

Paul McCartney - Days We Left Behind (Lyric Video)

The Boys of Dungeon Lane will be McCartney’s 19th solo album, a milestone in a career that has spanned more than six decades and helped shape the sound of modern rock.

While his 2020 album, McCartney III, was largely a solo effort recorded in lockdown – what he jokingly called a “rockdown” – his new work was produced alongside US producer Andrew Watt.

• 'Yesterday' by The Beatles: The making of Paul McCartney's masterpiece
• Will the final Beatles song feature an 'AI John Lennon'? Paul McCartney explains

Known for producing rockstars from Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones, Watt met McCartney in 2021 “for a cup of tea and an exchange of ideas.”

During one session, Paul stumbled upon a chord that even he, “the world’s most successful living songwriter,” did not recognise.

“Undeterred and driven by his experimental nature, Paul carried on changing one note, then another, until he had a three-chord sequence — which Watt suggested they should record.” That improvisation evolved into 'As You Lie There', the album’s opening track.

Recording stretched across several years, squeezed in between Paul’s tours, work on the Beatles documentary Get Back, and writing his memoir about Wings, the 1970s band he fronted after the Beatles.

Man on the Run: Director explains why Paul McCartney got the blame for The Beatles breaking up

During this period, he also won a Grammy for Now and Then, hailed as the final Beatles track, reconstructed from old demos with modern audio technology.

Bird-watching and his life in Liverpool as a child deeply inspired his new work.

• What is Paul McCartney’s favourite Beatles song?
• Paul McCartney speaks out on who is better: The Beatles or The Rolling Stones

“I loved bird watching when I was a kid, because I like to be able to get out of the normal stream of life,” McCartney told his Life In Lyrics podcast in 2024.

“We were about a mile away from quite deep countryside, so I used to just go out on my own, just being away from the normal stuff — school, family life.”

The album’s release comes after the title was accidentally revealed on social media by McCartney’s brother Mike, after his son noticed posters appearing around Liverpool. “Josh saw this teaser for r kids new album The Boys of Dungeon Lane in Liverpool yest[erday],” he wrote.

“The image ‘was familiar’ to Josh,” Mike noted, “because he had designed the… artwork for his Uncle.”

With the mystery now out in the open, fans can finally look forward to revisiting the memories that shape Paul McCartney’s early life.

• The Beatles on Top of the Pops: The story of the band's only performance on the classic show
• Watch Paul McCartney's incredible virtual duet with John Lennon at arena show
• The night John Lennon, Paul McCartney and David Bowie nearly formed a supergroup