»The original story about this was, I was reading about ›Death of John Lennon‹ in a newspaper. And one of the accounts was that the cop who took him to hospital after he’d been shot said ›Do you know who you are?‹ 'cause apparently that’s what they say to try and, you know, ›I'm Sally Burgess.‹ - ›Oh she’s not too badly off then.‹ But you know in John’s case it was particularly crazy 'cause, you know, it’s like a fan almost ›Do you know who you are?‹ ... and it always - oh my god - strangest remark that to me.
I told Carl about this. So we, that's what the nurse now says to the girl in bed as if - in the same way - ›Do you know who you are?‹ That's what she says.«
Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you!
Many a summer the grass has grown green,
Blossomed and faded, our faces between:
Yet, with strong yearning and passionate pain,
Long I tonight for your presence again.
Come from the silence so long and so deep;—
Rock me to sleep, mother, – rock me to sleep!
- the third stanza of
Rock Me To Sleep by Elizabeth Akers Allen
PAUL McCARTNEY with JULIAN LENNON and MARY McCARTNEY at the private view of Paul McCartney Photographs 1963-64: Eyes of the Storm at the National Portrait Gallery. London, England. June 26, 2023
"It makes me laugh now, but there were some afternoons when we'd be watching cartoons and Dad would wander over with his guitar. He'd sit down and start playing this beautiful music, messing around with melodies and songs. We'd all give him an evil stare. 'Dad, we're watching telly. Go in the kitchen.' One time he said: 'Do you know how many people would love to be sitting here now, listening to me play guitar?' I just shrugged. 'But we can't hear The Wombles.'"