THINKER'S ALMANAC - April 8

When challenged to write a song on the spot by actor Dustin Hoffman, how did Paul McCartney come up with the subject of Pablo Picasso’s last words?

Subject:  Creativity on Demand - Actor Dustin Hoffman asks Paul McCartney to write a song

Subject:  Death of Pablo Picasso, 1973

Life is quite mysterious and quite miraculous. Every time I come to write a song, there's this magic little thing where I go, 'Ooh, ooh, it's happening again.' I just sit down at the piano and go, 'Oh my God, I don't know this one,' and suddenly there's a song. -Paul McCartney

Pablo Picasso was one of the most prolific and influential artists in history.  In fact, he was such a powerfully creative force that he continued to inspire creativity in others, even after his death on this day in 1973.

While on holiday in Jamaica, former Beatle Paul McCartney visited the actors Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen on the set of their film Papillon. Later that night McCartney had dinner with Hoffman, and they began talking about the creative process.  Hoffman asked McCartney how he wrote songs, and McCartney responded by saying that there was no magical formula; he just made them up.  Hoffman then asked, “Can you make up a song about anything, right now?”  Hoffman then pulled out a copy of Time magazine and opened it to an obituary of Picasso, which reported Picasso’s last words to his friends on the night that he died:  “Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can’t drink anymore.”  Taking up Hoffman’s challenge, McCartney picked up his guitar and began strumming and singing a song incorporating Picasso’s dying words.  Hoffman was blown away by the ease of McCartney’s creative process and the experience of being a witness to the birth of an entirely new song.  As it turned out the song was not just a throw away:  it appeared on McCartney’s next album Band on The Run, entitled “Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)” (1).

Although McCartney drew inspiration from Picasso’s dying words, he might not have realized that in taking up Hoffman’s challenge, he was demonstrating the truth of some of Picasso’s other words on creativity:

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.

As McCartney demonstrated, just about anything can be a springboard for creativity as long as the creator allows no limits.

Recall, Retrieve, Recite, Ruminate, Reflect, Reason:  What challenge did Dustin Hoffman make to Paul McCartney, and how did his response illustrate Picasso’s attitude toward creativity?

Today’s Challenge - Be Creative - Now!:  What is the best thing ever said about creativity?  Do some research on quotations by artists and creators.  Find the one you like the best, and explain why you like it.

ALSO ON THIS DAY:

-April 8, 560 B.C.:  Siddharth Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was born on this day.  He said, “We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.”

-April 8, 2014:   On this day the book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness was published by Richard Thaler and his colleague Cass R. Sunstein.  In defining the key concept in their book, they say the following:  “A nudge, as we will use the term, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives.”  For more on nudges, see THINKER’S ALMANAC - February 7.

Sources:

1-The Beatles Bible. “Picasso’s Last Words (Drink To Me)” 23 October 2010.