Paul McCartney’s autobiographical memoir lyrics book already enjoyed immense success and resounding appeal when first issued as a beautiful two-volume set in 2021. The Lyrics already enjoyed great renown and reviews for the depth of commentary and revelations provided by McCartney. At the same time, the alphabetical ordering denied any chronological review of the songs. This matches the recounting of how interviews with poet and editor Paul Muldoon were completed, a component of the production of the book now being transformed into a podcast series by Muldoon and McCartney, taken from the hours of interviews completed between the two.The paperback edition, with seven additional song commentaries included, emphasizes the history contained in McCartney’s songs and experiences and engages with other recent content released in celebration of the Beatles, notably Peter Jackson’s documentary film, The Beatles: Get Back, and the 2023 “last song by the Beatles,” “Now and Then.” (Coincidentally, both versions of The Lyrics released simultaneously with Jackson’s documentary and “Now and Then.”) In these connections, McCartney centered himself and his recollections within the dialogue of the Beatles’ history, claiming a prominent position that reframes the relationships he enjoyed and narrative according to his memory, complimenting and countering the literature that tells, retells, and analyzes the Beatles’ story and significance. Simultaneously with the paperback edition, McCartney and Muldoon announced and released a podcast version of their conversations recorded that produced the book.The new song commentaries, added to this paperback edition of The Lyrics, generously compliment the existing songs from the original edition, and at times offer further cultural and historical context for those songs. In his discussion of “Bluebird,” McCartney shares with editor Paul Muldoon the historical references and numerous songs that reference bluebirds, such as “The White Cliffs of Dover” by Dame Vera Lynn, before exploring writing arrangement and publisher expectations that he still contractually held when it was written in 1973. Here, McCartney generously admits the differences between a song composed by Paul and Linda McCartney versus with John Lennon and where he wrote and recorded for tax purposes in the early 1970s. Similarly, McCartney’s added commentary for “Hello, Goodbye” emphasizes his fascination with binary pairs, and here that refers directly to his relationship with Lennon and the contributions each provided to the other and their artistry (198-199). “Bluebird” further highlights McCartney’s repeated references to birds as a symbol of love and traveling throughout his catalog, from “Blackbird” on the White Album (1968) to “Jenny Wren” from Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005). The wealth of such extensive discussion and insight matches the previously released version of The Lyrics nicely while marking the value in the additional song commentaries.Within the discussion of “Day Tripper,” McCartney explores the “day trips” taken with his family or friends in his youth and admits to the activities young men hoped to enjoy on such excursions (sexual liaisons). McCartney also freely notes the drug references made by the song’s title, the “well-known” riff that leads the arrangement, and the economical production by the Beatles at the height of Beatlemania in 1965: “written and recorded quickly in time for a Christmas release” (84). “Magical Mystery Tour” documents both the song and the Beatles’ film of the same name, placing both within Paul’s childhood in Liverpool and the backdrop of cultural and societal shifts in the mid-1960s. Adding significantly to McCartney’s influence in the 1960s, the song “Step Inside Love” written for Cilla Black’s TV show Cilla, recounts her background and connections in Liverpool with the Beatles, and her career beyond the 1960s, emerging as a valuable contribution to his work as songwriter, producer, and arranger (466-467). Akin to those biographical elements, in discussing “English Tea,” McCartney links the song and its lyrics to his use of female protagonists and the pastoral, in his language and the atmosphere evoked by the arrangement of the song. Further, “English Tea” referring to taking tea or breakfast, a fitting component when McCartney and his band were asked to perform live to the crew of the International Space Station in the mid-2000s, performing “Good Day Sunshine” and then “English Tea.” (It helps the song was included on his then-recent hit album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard and performed in concert by his band.)Finally, this review identifies the added commentaries out of both chronological and alphabetical order to emphasize the biographical and significant cultural history of McCartney’s life. Of the seven added to the paperback edition, the song “Every Night” featured on his debut self-titled album McCartney and holds a valuable position in the linkage from the Beatles to his solo career. McCartney’s commentary explores his memories and relationships with the Beatles and his then-new family with Linda in 1969-1970 and opens with a direct link to the famous (infamous?) q&a included with the album that revealed the Beatles’ break-up. He emphasizes the themes of “Home. Family. Love.” as “the key influences” of that album “but words you have to grow into” (132). In that link and the commentary added to the paperback version of The Lyrics, McCartney demonstrates his growth and maturity as a musician, lyricist, artist, writer, and individual, notably highlighting his marriages and children as core to his person.Both the original two-volume hardcover edition of The Lyrics and the paperback edition released two years later demonstrate McCartney’s life through his lyrics with a wealth of detail and background. The commentaries range from brevity to staggering, leaving the fan and the average reader inspired and asking for more commentary depending on the song, album event, or stories revealed. The seven added songs to the paperback edition differ from the original 154 in that they are recognizably longer, generating value for this version while confounding their missing placement in the original hardcover volumes. Regardless, The Lyrics remains a breathtaking and generous representation of McCartney’s long career, told via a means to open windows into his experiences without necessarily weaving a narrative.[Reviewer’s note: Norton provided me a copy of the paperback edition.]