Paul McCartney – “Penny Lane” Live

In Summer Meanwhile Back

“Penny Lane” was written by Paul McCartney as a response to “Strawberry Fields Forever” which was penned by John Lennon. This was often referred to as the greatest single ever released and even ranked at number 456 on The Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” One distinctive feature of this track that made it more unforgettable was David Mason’s piccolo trumpet solo.

‘Penny Lane’ was kind of nostalgic, but it was really a place that John and I knew; it was actually a bus terminus. I’d get a bus to his house and I’d have to change at Penny Lane, or the same with him to me, so we often hung out at that terminus, like a roundabout. It was a place that we both knew, and so we both knew the things that turned up in the story. – Paul McCartney

The street has become a very important landmark. Many fans of The Beatles sought it out during their Liverpool visits. Before, street signs were used but were constantly being stolen by tourists. In 2007, city officials put up theft-resistant signs.

The single found The Beatles at their artistic and creative peak, and Penny Lane – as much as any of their songs released in 1967 – summed up the technicolour world that burst forth from the monochrome early 1960s, and the positive spirit that anything was possible.

Oh, I’d love to visit Penny Lane someday!