Theme

The main theme of the article “Paul McCartney is Esquire’s August Cover Star” by Alex Bilmes is the importance of integrity in the music industry, enhanced by hard work and passion for one’s job.

The importance of integrity in the music industry

Throughout his article, Alex Bilmes constructs an ideal image of Paul McCartney by comparing him with several artists whom he suggests might have acted in morally questionable ways in their lives. These artists include Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and even McCartney’s former colleague, John Lennon. Bilmes hints that they are less universally loved because they gained a reputation for vice or ridiculous behaviour.

McCartney, on the other hand, “grew up to be a respectable family man, happily married, nicely turned out with lovely manners and clean fingernails” (ll. 274-277). He managed to escape the image of the “drug addict (…) womaniser...