Down South

“Down South” is a track from the album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane“, released in 2026. It is a nostalgic song that recalls the hitchhiking trips Paul McCartney made with George Harrison in the south of England during the summers of 1958 and 1959.

Talking about reminiscing and memories. I think it was me who used to suggest that we go hitchhiking. So we would start off in Chester, which is just across the River Mersey. ’Cause that’s where a lot of lorries went down south. From there, I started writing this song, which is remembering hitchhiking trips that me and George took together. One thing that didn’t get in the song was… First trip we went on, we went down to Harlech in Wales. And that was great, we had a great time. We always took our guitars so, you know, so we were like, you know, the big city slickers from Liverpool. One of the lifts we got was from a guy on what they call a milk float and he had all those milk bottles in the back. But those were the first electric cars we ever saw. And it’s like, “Wow, this is electric!” So anyway, we got a lift off this guy.

So there was his driving seat and then there was a battery and then there was a passenger seat. So somehow George got the battery and I got the passenger seat. And it was just, you know, by luck. So he’s sitting on there and we’re going along fine. And suddenly he goes, “Ah!” “What, what, what?” And what had happened is he had a pair of jeans on with a zip the back and it connected the battery up.

Once we finished the lift and that, we would try and find somewhere to stay and we’d get like a bed and breakfast or something, you know. And he showed me, he had a great big zip burn on his bum! Well, it’s weird though, memory is a weird thing, because I was talking to Olivia Harrison about this and she said, “Oh, yeah, George told me that story, about how you got the zip burn on your bum” I said, “It wasn’t me, it was George!” Anyway, this is how memory can morph and do all that. I swear it was George, it was. Anyway, so we were always heading down south. So this next song is just me on acoustic remembering some of those things: The first verse is us getting the lift and the second verse goes back to how me and George met, which was on the school bus. He used to go to the same school as I did. And then the last verse is back to the hitchhiking thing. It’s called “Down South.”

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

Some of the tracks on this album are about memories of mine. One of the funny things we used to do before the Beatles, I would say to John and George actually was saying, “Should we should we go hitchhiking?” We didn’t have much money. So the the thing to do was to get a lift off lorries that were going down south from Liverpool. If you got a lift, you had a holiday for nothing, you know. And I’d suggested this to George. So him and me did it. And the great thing is, you know, it really bonds you cuz um you’re just stuck with each other. Um and so you learn each other’s humor, learn each other’s likes and dislikes. On the Welsh trip on going to Harlech, we thumbed a lift and it was a little milk van and those were the first electric cars you ever saw. That’s what they used electric cars for. We just just about got in and there was the driver here, George, sitting in the middle and then me here. George was sitting on the battery. We didn’t think anything of it, you know. It’s like, “Yeah, okay. Somewhere to sit and we’re getting a free lift.” Suddenly, George jumps up. I said, “What? What’s up?” It turned out he had jeans with a zip on the back and it connected up on the battery. So I must say we when we got to the bed and breakfast later he showed me had a big zip mark on his butt [laughter] It brings you together.

Paul McCartney – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session, April 16, 2026

We were hitch-hiking down south, which is what one of the song on the new album is about. And we got a lift from a milk float, which was electric. It was one of the only vehicle that we knew that was electric. We were about four miles an hour, but it was a lift, so we were quite happy. The driver was sit on the right-hand side, there was a battery in the middle, and there was the passenger seat on the left-hand side. George sat on the battery, and everything was going fine, and suddenly, BANG, he jumps up, “what’s that, what’s wrong?” He had a pair of jeans with a zip on the pocket, and it connected up with the battery, given him a bolt. Later, when we got to our B&B, he showed me, he had the zip tattoed on his bum!

That was always my story, that I told to people. And I met Olivia Harrison, George’s widow, quite recently, and she was saying “Oh, I love that story of you and George going down to Wales, and you sat on the battery, and it connected and you got a scar on your bum.” I said, “it wasn’t me, it was George”, but I think it’s amazing how memory does that. It can just morph.

Paul McCartney – Interview with The Rest Is History podcast, May 15, 2026

One of the songs is “Down South”, which is about you hitchhiking with George. You were saying earlier at the fan listening event that you can’t remember who suggested the hitchhiking, but you think it was probably you. Is that because you were the more adventurous, more rebellious one?

I think that’s just my character — to be a bit more of a planner. You know, I would just think, “Wow, what a good idea.” And so I’d float it and say to George, “What do you think?” We could go on a cheap holiday because we didn’t have much money. So yeah, I’m pretty sure it was me. I went on a couple of hitchhiking trips with George, which were great. They’re very bonding. So that was before the Beatles — when we became the Beatles, we knew we had those memories already in common.

Paul McCartney – Interview with NME, May 30, 2026

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

Lyrics

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