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Released in 2007

That Was Me

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on January 18, 2021


Album This song officially appears on the Memory Almost Full Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 2007

Master album

Related session

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related interview

That Was Me” is a song from Paul McCartney’s 2007 album, “Memory Almost Full“.

People often say they can remember more from their childhood than they can from a month ago. I think that is a fact of life – I don’t know why. So all I had to do for this song was to think back. And immediately I go back to Liverpool, where there was a little place we could escape to, beautiful little woods where, come springtime, there would be these carpets of bluebells. It was a magical place. There’s something about me at the bus stop that’s a big part of my memories – going to school, coming home from school, going to the pictures, going to your friend’s house. So all of these things got in there. ‘The cellar’ is the Cavern, ‘Royal Iris’ is a ferry boat they had – they’d call them riverboat shuffles, and some of our earliest gigs were on them. So these are just exciting memories of mine, and I connected them: ‘On a blanket, in the bluebells, at the bus stop,’ Then I get into the Beatles: ‘That was me, on TV, sweating cobwebs in a cellar.’

Paul McCartney – interview with Mail On Sunday, May 12, 2008

Interview with David Khane, from Mix Online, October 1, 2007:

“That Was Me”: The very Ram-like “That Was Me” again features McCartney and the band, mostly on acoustic guitars. During the third verse, after the guitar solo, McCartney added a little something extra. “We were talking about that part needing a lift, and he said, ‘Well, maybe I’ll sing it up an octave,’ doubling the guitar line. He went out, and that’s the second pass. He kind of figured it out and just ripped it.


Lyrics

That was me

At the scout camp

In the school play

Spade and bucket

By the sea

That was me


That was me

Playing conkers

At the bus stop

On a blanket

In the blue bells

That was me


The same me that stands here now

And when I think that all this stuff

Can make a life, it's pretty hard to take it in

That was me


Well that was me

Royal iris

On the river

Merseybeatin'

With the band

That was me


That was me

Sweating cobwebs

Under contract

In the cellar

On TV

That was me


The same me that stands here now

If fate decreed

That all of this

Would make a lifetime

Who am I to disagree

That was me


That was me

A cappella

At the altar

In the middle

Of the picture

That was me


That was me

At the party

Sweating cobwebs

In a cellar

On TV

That was me


The same me that stands here now

And when I think that all this stuff

Can make a life, it's pretty hard to take it in


That was me

That was me

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “That Was Me

Videos

Live performances

That Was Me” has been played in 6 concerts.

Latest concerts where “That Was Me” has been played

See all concerts where “That Was Me” has been played

Paul McCartney writing

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