when memory is almost full.

If I heard Paul McCartney's new album Memory's Almost Full and had not recognized the whimsy in his voice or his endearing and familiar chord progressions which, to me, are like reminders of a happy family in a happy childhood, maybe I wouldn't have been too impressed. But that's just the thing - he is Paul McCartney. Maybe it will take a couple of listens, but his songs will be just the rub to listen to when craving a childlike, idealistic moment. Counterpart Lennon balanced it out - but what we have here, I think, is perfectly fine.

He manages to sell his CDs initially through Starbuck's, which doesn't seem to bother too many people, and it is a brilliant marketing strategy - we can't argue with that.

Last year I saw a special with McCartney performing in the Abbey Road studio, with some Beatles, Wings, and solo jams. He still hits the high notes. I couldn't catch on to his Chaos and Creation album songs during that special, but then I heard This Never Happened Before playing during a scene in the movie The Lake House with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. The mood of the song suited the scene.

That's just the thing about movies and people like Paul McCartney, and the idea of something grand like The Beatles. They stay in our mind whether we want them to or not. They trigger our memories of beautiful things. And that's fine with me.