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Released in 2026

Days We Left Behind

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on May 6, 2026

Album This song officially appears on the Days We Left Behind Single (streaming).

Timeline This song was officially released in 2026

Master release

“Days We Left Behind” is a track from the album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane“, released in 2026. It was released as a single on March 26, 2026, the same day the album was announced. A line in the song “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane” gave the album its title.

This is very much a memory song for me. The album title, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, comes from a lyric in this track. I was thinking just that, about the days I left behind and I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything else? It’s just a lot of memories of Liverpool.  It involves a bit in the middle about John and Forthlin Road which is the street I used to live in. Dungeon Lane is near there.  I used to live in a place called Speke which is quite working class.  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.

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

The first single, released a few weeks ago, is a gentle sentimental nod to his past. “It’s my memories of Liverpool,” McCartney said. “Dungeon Lane was near where I lived, me and George [Harrison]. I would get the bus and the next stop, he’d get on. We’d talk about guitars and rock ‘n’ roll. It was all coming in. It was all arriving.” McCartney also talked about going down to the Mersey shore. “I was a big bird watcher,” he said, drawing a laugh as the audience assumed he meant girl watcher, using the British slang. “No,” McCartney said, indicated he really meant the winged variety.  

From Billboard, April 17, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session, April 16, 2026

[Paul] talked about how he was playing a piano riff as “a throwaway for me” before Watt insisted on inserting it into the tune. “When I first met Andrew, I thought, ‘He’s a bit pushy.’ And he is! But I suddenly realized that’s what you want in a producer… someone who’s not gonna be a shrinking violet, who’s just gonna say, ‘We should do that. Let’s do that.’ And then I can turn it down” — if need be.

From Variety, April 17, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session, April 16, 2026

This was a lot of memories of Liverpool for me, but also any days we’ve left behind. Everyone’s got them – school, old mates. [The song, he added, seemed to write itself] It has memories of John in the middle, that’s lovely to go back to. Someone said: ‘What’s the secret code?’ I’m not telling! [laugh] You make a lot of stuff up when you write songs.

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

Lyrics

Looking back at white and black

Reminders of my past

Smoky bars and cheap guitars

But nothing built to last

Nothing ever stays

Nothing comes to mind

No one can erase

The days we left behind

See the boys of Dungeon Lane

Along the Mersey shore

Some of them will feel the pain

But some were meant for more

And nothing stays the same

No one needs to cry

Nothing can reclaim

The days we left behind

We met at Forthlin Road

And wrote a secret code

To never be spoken

I stand by what I said

The promise that I made

Will never be broken

Nothing ever stays

Nothing comes to mind

And no one can erase

The days we left behind

In the skies the skylarks rise

Above the sounds of war

Since that day I knew they’d stay

With me for evermore

’Cause nothing stays the same

And no one needs to cry

And no one is to blame

For the days we left behind

The days we left behind

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Days We Left Behind”

Related film

Videos

Album The Boys of Dungeon Lane (White LP)

Paul McCartney writing

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Geraldine • Mar 30, 2026 • 1 month ago

Pourquoi cette tristesse et melancolie !! encore une chanson qui est centrée sur john et paul. mais elle me fait peur , elle me fait penser a LAZARUS de BOWIE avant son voyage ... que les beatles sont loin mais oui si present dans notre coeur ..

j ai 77 ans et cette chanson me fait sentir que pour moi aussi la fin du tunnel approche et je suis vraiment triste

The PaulMcCartney Project • Apr 06, 2026 • 1 month ago

Merci pour votre message Géraldine. Oui, une belle chanson mélancolique, qui rappelle ses précédentes compositions "Early Days" or "The End Of The End". Mais Paul est toujours là à 84 ans, ce qui est incroyable ! Ce qui ne cesse de m'étonner et de motiver, moi qui vient d'atteindre seulement mon demi-siècle!

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