As You Lie There

“As You Lie There” is the opening track from the album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane“, released in 2026. It was also the first song Paul McCartney worked on for the album with producer Andrew Watt, back in April 2021.

The song was inspired by Paul’s childhood in Liverpool and by a neighbour named Jasmine, on whom he had a crush. In May 2026, a user on Steve Hoffman’s forums identified her as Jasmine Howe, née Dobbs, a claim that was subsequently reported by The Sun. According to The Sun report, Jasmine had no idea at the time that Paul was fond of her.

Up in one of the windows, there was a girl I fancied called Jasmine. But I didn’t know how to approach her, I never spoke to her. That’s what the song is about: imagining Jasmine lying there. The joke was, she did show up later that year and knocked on the door. I was indisposed – I was on the toilet – so I missed Jasmine! How romantic is that?

Paul McCartney – From The Times and The Guardian, May 5, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session in London, May 5, 2026

The Boys of Dungeon Lane was first brought into existence five years ago when Paul met producer Andrew Watt for a cup of tea and an exchange of ideas. While playing around on the guitar during the meeting, Paul happened upon a chord that even he didn’t 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. 

This session yielded the album’s opening track, As You Lie There. Encouraged by his new producer, Paul would flesh out the new track, playing the majority of instruments – much in the spirit of his 1970 solo debut album, McCartney.  So began the journey of what became Paul’s 18th studio album credited solely to Paul.   

From Paul McCartney | News | Paul Announces New Album – ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane’, March 26, 2026

The song that came from that first tea meeting was inspired by McCartney’s childhood in Liverpool, England and a neighbor girl. “I really fancied named Jasmine,” McCartney said, looking at his wife and adding, “Sorry, Nancy.” The tune starts as a spoken word track, before going into a sweet, then rocking melody, that changes tempo and shape shift throughout. “Do I ever cross your mind as you lie there?” he asks. “As you lie across the bed, am I there inside your head?”

From Billboard, April 17, 2026

So, I had a cup of tea with Andrew Watt, and we’re just chatting and he’s had millions of guitars around. We talked about writing songs. I said, “Well, sometimes I’ll just take a guitar and just plonk a chord. Maybe I don’t even know what it is, but it’ll start me off, it’ll give me an idea. Oh yeah,” you know. So, I picked up his left-handed guitar and banged like any old chord. [plays chord] I thought wow, okay, that’s a weird chord, you know. And I said see that we could go somewhere. And then I changed that top note. [plays slightly different chord] It started to make a little bit, make a bit more sense. [plays another chord] And I changed it again, so we had like a three chord sequence. So that was it.

And so, he said, “Yeah, great, okay, that’s… That’ll work.” So, we started messing around with that and we threw a few more chords in. And in the end we… You know, I just stayed for a couple of days and we made up this first song. I’d always wanted to do a little bit of talking on a song, you know, but I was remembering kind of great records, like, The Stylistics and things. I thought, “Oh, those did it great,” you know, “Maybe I could do it.”

And then the next day I was looking at what the lyric might be and I remembered when I was in Liverpool as a kid, we lived on Forthlin Road. And then just along the way a bit, there was… There was a block of flats, tenements, and up in one of the windows there was a girl that I fancied called Jasmine. But I did not know how to approach her or anything. You know, it’s like that age, you just think, “If only…” But I never did, I never talked to her or anything. So that kind of story is a little bit what the song’s about. So it’s called “As You Lie There.”

Paul McCartney – Track-by-track commentary from Amazon Music

From a family history site that I use (familysearch.org). Jasmine wasn’t a particularly common name here in the UK in the 1940’s so I just searched for a Jasmine born in Liverpool between 1940 and 1944 (Paul being born in 1942).

There was just the one, Jasmine H M Dobbs, who just happened to be born in the south of Liverpool, no more than nine months after Paul was born. There were other Jasmine’s born not too far away around this time, in Blackpool and Manchester, and maybe it one of those girls who’s parents then moved to Liverpool? Also, it may have been an older or much younger Jasmine born outside those years, but I didn’t widen my search after I saw Jasmine Dobbs birth registration entry.

User Solaris Morse – From Steve Hoffman Music Forums, April 20, 2026

[…] The record was unveiled at a preview event in London this month, where the legendary Beatles songwriter recalled memories of a pretty neighbour called Jasmine, who lived close to his home. Today, it has emerged she is retired mum-of-three Jasmine Howe, who left the area and resettled in Hertfordshire before retiring to the New Forest in Hampshire.

And the now 83-year-old’s ­family were stunned to learn of the £800million rock legend’s youthful infatuation — revealing she had “absolutely no idea” about his fondness for her.

They explained: “It’s a cute story, she lived nearby and knew who he was, but she never got close to him — meanwhile, he obviously felt very differently! It’s an amazing story — a very long time ago now, but we’ve chatted as a family in the past about how Jasmine grew up close to Paul McCartney. She just knew him as one of the boys in the local area. It’s enough to give you goosebumps!”

From The Sun, May 18, 2026

Lyrics

Officially appears on