Ahead of the highly anticipated launch of his upcoming studio album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, rock icon Paul McCartney sat down with Zane Lowe on The Zane Lowe Show to look back on his legendary career. During the expansive Apple Music conversation, the legendary singer-songwriter revealed the heartwarming, accidental origin story behind "Home to Us"—his first-ever official duet with former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr.
The milestone track began unexpectedly after Starr paid a casual visit to McCartney’s record producer, Andrew Watt. "Ringo knew that I'd worked with Andrew and we'd done one track... so he went over to see Andrew," McCartney explained. "Then I was working with Andrew and I said, 'You remember that Ringo came over and did some drumming, didn't he?' He says, 'Yeah.' I said, 'Let's hear it.' So he got it up. And I said, 'Oh it's good. It's nice drumming.' So I said we should write a song around that."
Inspired by Starr's unique rhythm track, McCartney sat down to pen lyrics that paid tribute to their shared childhood roots in Liverpool. "I wrote the words about where we both came from. I came from a place, Speke, he came from a place called Dingle, and it was poor living," McCartney recalled. "Looking back on it now, I would have to say that nobody had any money and the houses were pretty rough. But we didn't know any better. And it was cool."
The collaborative process took a humorous turn due to a classic communication mix-up when it came time to record the vocals. "I put the vocal on it as a guide vocal for Ringo. And then we sent it over to him and I said, 'Would you sing on this?' You know, thinking he'll just replace my vocal, but he didn't get the idea," McCartney laughed. "He sort of sang on it a little bit, the chorus, it's harmonies, just a tiny bit. So I rang him back up and said, 'Didn't you like it? Didn't you want to sing the whole thing?' He said, 'I didn't think you wanted me to.'"
Lowe found the dynamic hilarious, pointing out that even after a lifetime of friendship, the two musical giants are "still circling one another, trying to figure out how to get it done." McCartney agreed, adding, "That's true. That's how people do it. Anyway, I said, 'No, no, no I'd love you to sing the whole thing.' So he did very nicely. And then it suddenly became obvious that I could take a line, he could take a line. So we have the first Paul and Ringo duet."
