Paul McCartney Reveals the Two Simple Words Linda McCartney Used to Change His View of Life
Paul McCartney has spent decades reflecting on his music, his family and the years he shared with Linda McCartney. But one of the most lasting lessons he remembers from his late wife had little to do with music.
It came down to just two simple words: “It’s allowed.”
In his Words + Music installment with Audible, McCartney described Linda as a “freeing influence” who encouraged him to stop overthinking, challenge expectations and give himself permission to pursue things he genuinely wanted to do.
For McCartney, those ordinary words carried an extraordinary message.
Linda Taught Paul to Stop Being So Uptight
McCartney recalled that Linda had an unusually independent outlook on life.
Although she had grown up in an affluent New York environment and appeared to be on a conventional path, Linda did not simply follow the future others had imagined for her.
She loved rock ’n’ roll and, according to McCartney, would sometimes sneak out and drive into New York.
That independent streak eventually became one of the qualities McCartney admired most about her.
“There was a lot of freedom in her thinking,” he recalled, explaining that her outlook had a powerful influence on him.
Linda helped him become less concerned with what he was supposedly allowed to do — and more willing to simply do it.
The Phrase Paul Never Forgot
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McCartney explained that whenever he hesitated about doing something, Linda had an incredibly simple response.
He might say that he would love to do something but couldn’t.
Linda would simply tell him:
“It’s allowed.”
The effect was immediate.
McCartney recalled feeling as though “all the weight just went off.”
Suddenly, the thing he had been worrying about no longer seemed impossible.
“Yeah, of course it is!” he remembered thinking.
The phrase stayed with him because Linda wasn’t giving him complicated advice. She was reminding him that sometimes the biggest restrictions are the ones people create for themselves.
Linda Chose Her Own Path
Linda’s philosophy was reflected in her own life.
Rather than following the conventional future her family had expected, she eventually chose a very different path.
She married McCartney in 1969 and became part of a life that was anything but ordinary.
At the time they met, Linda was divorced and raising her daughter Heather. Together, she and McCartney later had three children: Mary, Stella and James.
Their marriage lasted until Linda died from breast cancer in 1998 at age 56.
For McCartney, however, her influence remained long after her death.
They Tried to Keep Family Life Simple
Despite being one of the most famous musicians in the world, McCartney said he and Linda tried to remain hands-on parents.
They did not immediately rely on a large household staff to handle everyday family responsibilities.
Instead, they were deeply involved in raising their children themselves.
McCartney remembered seemingly ordinary moments — including teaching one of his children how to say “cat” — as some of the experiences he treasured most.
Those memories offered a glimpse of a family life that existed far beyond the enormous fame surrounding The Beatles.
Linda Also Changed the Sound of Wings
Linda’s influence wasn’t limited to McCartney’s personal life.
She eventually joined Wings, playing keyboards and singing harmonies despite not having been a professionally trained musician.
The decision attracted plenty of criticism.
Some people questioned why McCartney had placed his wife in the band and criticized her musical abilities.
But McCartney heard something different.
He believed Linda’s voice gave Wings a distinctive quality and helped create what he considered a “special sound.”
In other words, the same woman who encouraged him to ignore conventional expectations in life also became part of one of the most important musical chapters of his post-Beatles career.
Looking Back at Linda Meant More Than Revisiting the Past
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McCartney’s Words + Music conversation with director Morgan Neville gave him an opportunity to revisit the early days of Wings and his life with Linda.
He admitted that he normally doesn’t spend much time looking backward.
But Neville’s questions encouraged him to revisit memories he hadn’t thought about in years.
Among those memories was the influence Linda had on him — not through some grand speech or complicated philosophy, but through a tiny expression that apparently stayed with him for decades.
“It’s allowed.”
Two words that gave McCartney permission to stop worrying about whether he could do something and simply consider whether he wanted to.
And perhaps that’s why, years after Linda’s death, such a simple phrase still carries so