Abstract
We apply Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s systems model of creativity (1988,1997 & 1999) specifically to Paul McCartney’s songwriting process, and to one song, ‘Yesterday’ in this chapter of Paul McCartney and His Creative Practice: The Beatles and Beyond. We show that despite this song’s promotion as a Romantic piece of creative activity, connected to the myth of the mystically inspired freely expressive artist, the creation of ‘Yesterday’ by McCartney was, a more considered and rational process than otherwise mythologised. This chapter argues that this song’s creation, and many others that McCartney was involved in, is a paradigm example of the creative system in action. Its emergence, which was guided and bought to fruition by the agency of Paul McCartney, can be seen as a pivot point in McCartney’s and The Beatles’ career and highlights the actions of a choice making entity, operating within a systemic relationship with the field and domain of popular songs. These three components, the individual agent, the social organisation they create within, and the symbol system they use, are to be seen as all equally important and interdependent in producing creative products. ‘Yesterday’ is but one creative product of this system at work.
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McIntyre, P., Thompson, P. (2021). Paul McCartney and the Creation of ‘Yesterday’. In: Paul McCartney and His Creative Practice. Palgrave Studies in Creativity and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79100-1_3
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