As Paul turns 80 it is sometimes forgotten that he has been an ex-Beatle for over 50 years, but when you hit it so big the first time out it is only to be expected that the shadow of your twenty-something self might follow you around a bit.

But it has been warming to see that as this eighth-decade rolls in, and the candles, lot and lots of candles, are being lit this weekend, people are sharing their love of Paul’s whole career and not just the force 5 meteor that started it all off.

There are after all not too many, well let’s be honest, very few in fact who can lay claim to a career that has seen such explosive success both within a band and as a solo artist and willing collaborator. Following that infamous Daily Mirror headline that heralded the end of the Beatles, he quickly gave us his self-titled album McCartney. Not a hastily rushed out cash-in as one might expect but a deeply personal cut, recorded at home by a veritable one-man band eager to keep alive his musical spark and showcase himself as more than just one-quarter of a four-headed monster.

Mission accomplished.

While not everyone’s cup of tea at the time, this particular brew was perhaps tainted with the false hint of betrayal that it was Paul who called time on the Beatles. McCartney as an album, however, has faired well with its reputation growing over the years, and it along with RAM, showed us all that there was life beyond the Fab Four. At the time we perhaps did not know quite how much, and no one could have guessed that the third iteration of that debut would follow nearly 50 years down the line and Paul would still be as relevant now, even more so perhaps than he was then. It is in every sense remarkable.

The man is not so much a national treasure but an intergalactic one, his fame, talent and affability transcends music, transcends celebrity and lays notoriety to dust. That is not to say that I simply want to elevate Paul here, in fact, it is the ordinary that I feel makes him so extraordinary.

His music has spoken to us all at the most basic, primitive and primal levels, he is a superhuman, who makes us feel, well, more human. How many of us have found ourselves humming along to Another Day, getting lost in nostalgia listening to the wistful beauty of Junk and how many of us have been reminded of our own loss when Paul has sung about Maureen or John on tracks like Little Willow and Here Today.

Paul doesn’t sing about flash cars and fast ladies, he is not in that sense a superstar but rather a man who has tried as hard as he can to cling to his sense of self despite his obvious and otherworldly ability to make us connect with music and make the hairs stand up on the back of our necks.

Whatever Paul’s plans for his big day, no doubt involving some rest after another sell-out tour, he deserves all the loving he is getting, not just for those cosmic 8 years from 62 to 70 but for the 52 that have followed. Many in his situation might have essentially retired at 28 and toured the hits when the pot was empty, not Paul, he has always wanted to reinvent himself, to push his own boundaries and keep growing and for that and his desire to still keep so grounded we should be thankful.

So before you reach for those old LPs or that Spotify playlist today, why not challenge your own boundaries too and delve into his solo work, it is full of treats and treasures, over 50 years worth in fact, it is Paul’s gift to us and it just keeps on giving.

Happy Birthday Paul.