Since the breakup of The Beatles, Paul has had the unhappy role of playing villain, a problem that has been amplified by things John Lennon has said and sung, statements that Paul has not answered extensively in any interview. Only in his lyrics do we discover any of his attitudes, and even there Paul backs off the subject, being clever but not really incisive: "Too many people sharing party lines, / Too many people never sleeping late. / Too many people paying parking fines, / Too many hungry people losing weight." (Too Many People by Paul McCartney.)

That's really not much of an answer to "I've seen religion from Jesus to Paul," or "Those freaks was right when they said you was dead, / The one mistake you made was in your head." According to Paul, in Too Many People, John's one mistake is that he missed his "lucky break," but it's...