<p id=”par-1_62″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/paul-mccartney/?swcfpc=1″>Paul McCartney</a> released a classic <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/christmas/?swcfpc=1″>Christmas</a> song in 1979, cementing his name in the holiday canon. McCartney also put on holiday specials with The Beatles and recorded albums for their fan club. These days, McCartney shares his favorite memories of Christmas in the weeks leading up to the holiday. He said that one unexpected smell always reminds him of his childhood Christmases. </p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-paul-mccartney-said-this-smell-reminds-him-of-christmas”>Paul McCartney said this smell reminds him of Christmas</h2>
<p id=”par-2_22″>When asked what “always gives [him] a Christmas feeling,” McCartney said a specific smell always pulls him back to his childhood holidays. </p>
<p id=”par-3_59″>“As a kid it was always the smell of cigars,” he said in a 2023 Q&A on his <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.paulmccartney.com/news/you-gave-me-the-answer-23-questions-for-2023″ rel=”noreferrer noopener”>official website</a>. “My dad didn’t smoke them except at Christmas, and my brother and I used to buy him a little pack each. Then one year our dad said, ‘Don’t buy me the pack, just get me one really good one!’”</p>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Paul-McCartney-1.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”A black and white picture of Paul McCartney and his brother sitting in a field.” class=”wp-image-3755686″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Paul McCartney and his brother, Mike | Keystone/Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-4_9″>He shared what Christmas was like during his childhood.</p>
<p id=”par-5_62″>“I think waking up as a really little kid on Christmas morning, and just seeing the white pillowcase that we used to get,” he said in another interview on his <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.paulmccartney.com/news/you-gave-me-the-answer-christmas-edition-6821″ rel=”noreferrer noopener”>website</a>, adding, “It was like a stocking but Mum and Dad used to put it in a white pillowcase, and it would be a present, a couple of nuts and a tangerine.”</p>
<p id=”par-6_26″>He said the presents themselves didn’t matter as much as the idea that Santa Clause had visited his house. He cherished the <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/paul-mccartney-shared-joyful-memories-innocence-childhood-christmases.html/”>innocence of these memories</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-7_84″>“We weren’t well off so it wouldn’t be like kids today with their serious couple-of-hundred-quid presents,” he said. “But yeah, it was just so exciting it was the ‘He’s been! He’s been!’ Just totally buying into this idea that Santa had been in your bedroom and left this white pillowcase. Nuts, tangerine, and a present or two. It’s funny though; it’s not so much the value of the presents — though that was good too! — it was just this idea of, ‘He’s been!’”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-he-shared-his-memory-of-holiday-parties-with-his-family”>He shared his memory of holiday parties with his family</h2>
<p id=”par-8_23″>The McCartney family typically gathered to <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/paul-mccartney-new-years-eve-very-rock-star-way.html/”>celebrate New Year’s Eve</a> together. McCartney said these were some of the best parties he’s ever attended.</p>
<p id=”par-9_49″>“Dad had told me: ‘Learn the piano, because you’ll get invited to parties,’” McCartney said in <em>The Beatles Anthology.</em> “He’d always play on New Year’s Eve. Our family always had big New Year’s Eve parties. They were some of the best parties I ever remember, because everyone got together.”</p>
<p id=”par-10_11″>He played bartender for the adults, which he said he loved. </p>
<p id=”par-11_109″>“It was wonderful, because everybody would get pissed out of their arses,” he said. “Old Uncle Jack, a wheezy old man, would say, ‘All right, son. Have you heard this one?’ and tell the best jokes ever. A really good joke is a great acquisition for me, it’s like gold bullion. I don’t remember Uncle Jack ever coming up with a bad one, they were always killers. There’d be him and my Uncle Harry, drunk out of their minds. And at midnight on New Year’s Eve at Uncle Joe’s house in Aintree, a piper would come in — just a neighbor — and it was lovely; very, very warm.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-paul-mccartney-shared-how-he-feels-about-the-backlash-to-his-christmas-song”>Paul McCartney shared how he feels about the backlash to his Christmas song</h2>
<p id=”par-12_29″>McCartney’s song “Wonderful Christmastime” is frequently on the radio during the holiday season. He’s aware that some people complain about hearing it too much, but he <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/paul-mccartney-doesnt-care-wonderful-christmastime-overplayed.html/”>doesn’t particularly care</a>.</p>
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<iframe title=”Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmastime” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/94Ye-3C1FC8?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-13_37″>“I did hope it would keep coming back — which it has,” he said on his <a target=”_blank” href=”https://www.paulmccartney.com/news/you-gave-me-the-answer-wonderful-christmastime-special” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>website</a>. “Sometimes people will go into a shop and hear it a little too much, but I don’t care! I’m happy!” </p>
<p id=”par-14_22″>It’s not surprising that he’s happy about the playtime the song gets. He’s <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/wonderful-christmastime-earned-paul-mccartney-15-million-alone.html/”>made millions of dollars</a> off it since its release.</p>