What I Would Have Asked Paul McCartney

This is a piece I wrote last summer.

Last night, David Letterman was given an opportunity I would figuratively kill for: he interviewed Sir Paul McCartney. The segment was decent enough, but Dave's questions were musty, forcing Paul to tell the same stories he's been telling for over 45 years now.So I decided to come up with a list of 10 questions I think might have made for a more original segment. Let me know if there's anything I missed.

1a. Your recent work has been met with much praise, whereas before, your solo work was often dismissed by critics. Have you noticed a change in the quality of your own work, or do you think critics are just susceptible to trends?
1b. Recently, do you feel reconnected with your music, or has your level of investment always been consistent?

2a. What do you do when you sit down to write a song and nothing comes? Or do you never treat it like work, and rather, wait for inspiration?
2b. Has it become harder over the years to connect with your muse?

3. You and John Lennon had a very rare creative chemistry. Did it have to be practiced or was it immediately apparent?

4. Did George Harrison ever reach out to you and John for songwriting advice? Why were there almost no collaborations between you and John and George?

5. How might the Beatles' career been different if George Martin had not been involved? Or if the group had decided to work with several different producers?

6. You have no musical training. How do you think this has shaped your approach to composition? Would training have given you direction, or would it have limited you and robbed you of discovery?

7a. You have also had songwriting partnerships with Elvis Costello and Michael Jackson. Was the process still similar to the way you and John used to write, or did it chance with each collaborator?
7b. Any collaborations you still wish to happen?

8. When you make an album today, do you have a specific goal, i.e., to do something you've never done before, or to top yourself?

9. You're a multi-instrumentalist. Which instrument is your favorite for composing?

9b. Can you remember any songs that came as the result of trying a new instrument?

10. You're known for your melodies, yet you typically play the bass, which is rhythmic. Is there a reason you prefer playing bass in live concerts?