THINK OF ‘ANYTHING GOES’. THERE’S A PRELIMINARY SECTION to that Cole Porter song that seems to have absolutely nothing to do with it:

Times have changed

And we’ve often rewound the clock

Since the Puritans got the shock

When they landed on Plymouth Rock . . .

In coming up with lyrics to ‘Here, There and Everywhere’, we were trying to emulate the openings of some of our favourite old songs that had a completely rambling preamble. That’s what lies behind the lines ‘To lead a better life / I need my love to be here’.

What I like most about this song is that we think we’re on a path on the moors and we’re going for a walk, and then suddenly we’ve arrived where we started. It’s not quite that we’ve gone around in a circle. It’s more magical than that. We’ve come to another beginning of the path. You can see back to where you came from, and you’re definitely not there. You’re in a new place, though it’s got the same scenery. I’ve always liked that trick.

In terms of circularity, though, it’s hard to beat the fact that ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ was influenced most immediately by The Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’ from Pet Sounds. What’s really interesting is that ‘God Only Knows’ was itself inspired by Brian Wilson’s repeated listening to our songs on Rubber Soul.

My favourite line is ‘Changing my life with a wave of her hand’. I look at that line now and wonder where it came from. What was it? Was I thinking of the queen waving from the royal carriage? Or just the power of the little thing. The power of doing hardly anything. She waves her hand and she’s changed my life. It summons up a lot.

So now when I sing it, I look back at it and think, ‘The boy’s not bad.’ In fact, if pushed, I would say that ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ is my own favourite of all my songs.