Paul McCartney was a smart child, but he used the word “sneaky” to describe himself. He tried to avoid trouble as a kid, even if he had to invent stories to do so. When he wasn’t able to avoid punishment from his parents altogether, he admitted he tried to get back at them.

Paul McCartney described himself as a ‘sneaky’ child

While McCartney and his brother, Mike, both misbehaved as children, Mike got in trouble more often. McCartney often managed to avoid punishment.

“I was once hitting Michael for doing something,” his father, Jim, said in the book The Beatles by Hunter Davies. “Paul stood by shouting at Mike, ‘Tell him you didn’t do it and he’ll stop.’ Mike admitted he had done it, whatever it was. But Paul was always able to get out of most things.”

When McCartney couldn’t avoid trouble, he tried to get back at his parents.

“I was pretty sneaky,” McCartney said. “If I ever got bashed for being bad, I used to go into their bedroom when they were out and rip the lace curtains at the bottom, just a little bit, then I’d think, that’s got them.”

Paul McCartney’s father said he tried to avoid trouble as a child

While McCartney recounted his more troublesome side, his father said he was generally a good kid.

“I remember the headmistress saying how good the two boys were with younger children,” Jim said, “always sticking up for them. She said Michael was going to be a leader of men. I think this was because he was always arguing.” 

Overall, McCartney did his best to avoid getting in trouble.

“Paul did things much quieter,” he said. “He had much more nous [common sense]. Mike stuck his neck out. Paul always avoided trouble.”

He frustrated his father with his dedication to school

In later years, McCartney frustrated his father by not taking his schoolwork seriously.

“Paul was able to do his homework while watching TV,” his father said. “I used to tell him not to, that he couldn’t possibly do both. But I once asked him exactly what had been on, and he knew, and he’d also done an essay.”

While McCartney was smart, his plans for his future did not align with his father’s. He often went directly against what his father wanted for him.

“He was smart enough easily for a university,” he said. “That was always my intention for him. Get a BA or a BSc behind his name, then he’d be okay. But when he knew what was in my head, Paul tried to stop himself doing well. He was always good at Latin but when I said he’d need the Latin for a university, he started slacking up.”

Ultimately, McCartney’s dream for his future was solidly focused on music.