Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The McCartney Breakup


The news about the breakup of the marriage of Paul McCartney and Heather Mills adds special poignance to the lyrics of this song from McCartney's latest LP, the finest of his solo career. Macca has rarely been directly autobiographical, although things from his life seap through his lyrics, sometimes involuntarily. The song, Anyway, the final cut on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, appears to express a desire for the sort of relationship which he and his wife were apparently unable to establish.

Except for the few days he was in a Japanese jail on drug charges, McCartney never spent a night away from first wife Linda. For McCartney, a genuine romantic, the frequent separations from his second wife must have been painful.

McCartney is correct in saying that his second wife was thrown into one of the most brightly-burning spotlights on the planet. That couldn't have been easy.

Of course, the ultimate culprit in the end of any marriage is sin, the condition of heart and will that makes it impossible for two people to be reconciled or, in some cases, for one or both partners to treat the other with respect. But divorce is always a tragedy, even this one.

2 comments:

Deborah White said...

Divorce is always tragic.

While this one seems especially sad, but the fact is ..... significant age gaps can be a stumbling block. We have different needs at different stages in our lives.

Paul McCartney is a man in his 60s who has likely experienced everything he ever dreamed, and then some. Heather is an energetic woman in her 30s who never hid her passion for great causes. She has a clear drive to make her mark on the world, as her husband has already done.

Yes, it's very sad, and yes, it's a sin. But without counseling and significant commitment to the relationship as an end, it was predictable.

Mark Daniels said...

Interesting comments, Deborah.

God bless!

Mark