Paul McCartney Shares Songwriting Secrets in College Lecture

Excerpts from Billy Collins and Sir Paul McCartney at Rollins College on October 23, 2014 in Winter Park, FL:

"I'd say, 'It's getting better all the time,' and he'd say, 'It can't get much worse," McCartney told the students in regard to John Lennon. "I would have never thought of that."

When he was asked about how he writes songs, the singer-songwriter claimed that he doesn't have any set process. "I tell students all the time, 'Look, I don't know how to do this,'" he said, mentioning that "Yesterday" came to him in a dream. "Every time I approach a song, there's no rules. Sometimes the music comes first, sometimes the words – and if you're lucky, it all comes together."