James Corden returned to his hometown of London, England to make a week of episodes of The Late Late Show. Being a nice guy, he decided to give a struggling musician a break. He did a special U.K. edition of Carpool Karaoke with some guy named Pete McCartney. I mean, Paul McCartney.
Okay, Paul McCartney's not a struggling musician. He's one of the greatest musicians in the world, a living legend, who made classic music with The Beatles, then Wings, then went solo. (If you're too young to know who Paul McCartney is, he's like the white Drake.)
This edition of Carpool Karaoke is a must-watch for Beatles fans. They open the segment with "Drive My Car," in the car, replacing the "beep-beep"s with horn honks. Then they ditch the vehicle to check out famous landmarks from Paul's life. They visit Paul's family home, which is the first time he's seen it in 50 years. Then they stop by Penny Lane, where Paul adds his name to the myriad of signatures on the sign.
Along the way, they discuss how the Beatles music stood the test of time. James reflected, "Your music is so full of positivity and joy and a message of love and togetherness, I feel like it's more relevant now today maybe than it's ever been." Paul agreed, saying, "We expected it to last 10 years, but it keeps going on, and on, and on. And it keeps being relevant."
The 23-minute video is fun, and also has some emotional moments. Paul told a story about how the song "Let It Be" was inspired by his mother, Mary.
"I had a dream in the '60s where my mum, who died, came to me in the dream and was reassuring me, saying, 'it's going to be OK. Just let it be.' ... She gave me the positive word. So I woke up and I went: 'What was that? What'd she say? Let it be? I've never heard that. That's kind of good.'"
James told Paul that was the "most beautiful story" he ever heard. When they sang a rendition of Let It Be, it brought the jovial talk show host to tears. "Oh man, it got me emotional there," confessed James. "I didn't feel it coming." He went on to explain why the story affected him so much:
"I can remember my grandad, who was a musician, and my dad, sitting me down and saying, 'we're going to play you the best song you've ever heard'. And I remember them playing me that. If my grandad was here right now, he'd get an absolute kick out of this."
McCartney replied, "He is."
At the end of the segment, they visit a Liverpool pub, and treat the small crowd to a live performance. Paul and the backing band play a medley of classic hits - Hard Day's Night, Obla Di Obla Da, Love Me Do, Back in the USSR - then they wrap things up with Hey Jude. Noticing that the audience is tearing up, James reflects, "I think this is an afternoon not one of us will ever forget."