Down South

“Down South” is a track from the album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane“, released in 2026.

“Some of the tracks on this album are memories of mine,” he reasserted, and none more than this recollection of hitchhiking with George Harrison, catching rides with lorries to vacation spots on a couple of occasions so that “you had a holiday for nothing.” “The great thing is, it really bonds you, because you’re just stuck with each other, and so you learn each other’s humor and each other’s likes and dislikes.” He also recalled a separate trip with John Lennon to Paris, using a hundred pounds John’s relatives had given him. (“He sang ‘Working Class Hero.’ I used to go, ‘You are the least working class!’ Ringo was really working class. Me and George were from Speke — pretty working class. And John was from a posher (area). We always made fun of him.”)

But despite the similar experience catching rides with Lennon, McCartney made it clear this one is specifically about “very affectionate memories of George” (with whom he also sometimes used to share bus rides to school). Among the lyrics: “It was a good way to get to know you / Before we learned to twist and shout.”

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

Perhaps the most nostalgic song on the album prompted a revealing story about how McCartney used to hitchhike with both Harrison and John Lennon, often by grabbing a ride with a lorry (truck) driver and heading to Wales or southern England around Exeter. He recalled how once he and Harrison were in Wales and had hopped a ride “in a milk truck. George in the middle. He was sitting right on the battery. George jumped up,” McCartney said, acting it out. “He had jeans with a zip on the back and it connected with the battery! [Later] he showed me the zip mark [burned onto his body].” […]

The charming song, rooted in an acoustic guitar, is the literal story on McCartney and Harrison meeting on the bus and growing into hitchhiking friends. “It was a good way to get to know you before we learned ‘Twist & Shout,’” he sings.

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

I got the passenger seat and George was sitting on the battery, all of a sudden he jumped up screaming. His metal zip had connected with the battery and he got burned. He had a zip burn.

Paul McCartney – From The Mirror, May 5, 2026

McCartney remembered telling the story to Harrison’s widow, Olivia. “Oh yes,” she said. “George told me about the time you got the zip burn.” In this way history is made.

From The Times, May 5, 2026

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