Paul McCartney is digging into his archive for a new version of The Boys of Dungeon Lane. The Special Edition adds three previously unreleased songs and a flipped remix of his duet with Ringo Starr, “Home to Us,” which swaps their original vocal parts. The package also gets a limited-edition vinyl cover pulled from a silkscreened collage by Kate Gibb, featuring more than 100 images from McCartney’s personal collection.
The New Songs
The three unreleased tracks are “City Fox,” “One Night Stand,” and “Chelsea Boots.” They join the album’s existing thirteen songs, giving the Special Edition a total of sixteen songs.
The flip mix of “Home to Us” puts Starr and McCartney on each other’s parts from the original recording. The song reflects on their early days in Liverpool, the city where both grew up.
What the Album Covers
The physical Special Edition comes as a limited-edition 2LP on orange and blue marble vinyl, plus CD. Pre-orders are open now.
The cover collage, created by Kate Gibb, draws from McCartney’s own personal collection of more than 100 images. It is described as a silkscreened design.
The Track List
The full sequence runs 18 tracks across the two discs. Here is how it breaks down:
- “As You Lie There”
- “Lost Horizon”
- “Days We Left Behind”
- “Ripples in a Pond”
- “Mountain Top”
- “Down South”
- “We Two”
- “Come Inside”
- “Never Know”
- “Home to Us”
- “Life Can Be Hard”
- “First Star of the Night”
- “Salesman Saint”
- “Momma Gets By”
- “City Fox”
- “One Night Stand”
- “Chelsea Boots”
- “Home to Us – Flip Mix”
McCartney on the Album
McCartney spoke about the record in a statement, tying the title directly to his Liverpool roots. He recalled growing up in a working-class area called Speke, where he and George Harrison both lived.
“I used to live in a place called Speke which is quite working class,” he said. “We didn’t have much at all but it didn’t matter because all the people were great and you didn’t notice you didn’t have much.”
He also pointed to the album’s title track, which references the street where he and Harrison grew up. “The album title… comes from a lyric in this track,” he explained. “I was thinking just that, about the days I left behind and I do often wonder if I’m just writing about the past but then I think how can you write about anything else?”
The track “Days We Left Behind” carries particular weight for him. “It’s just a lot of memories of Liverpool,” he said. “It involves a bit in the middle about John and Forthlin Road which is the street I used to live in. Dungeon Lane is near there.”
The Review’s Take
Rolling Stone reviewed the album and called it a “warm, nostalgic late-career masterpiece.” The review points to the Liverpool connections throughout the record, noting that several songs look back at his early years in the city.
“There are several songs about his early years in Liverpool, including a good-old-days duet with his buddy Ringo Starr; the album’s title references a street in the neighborhood where both he and George Harrison grew up,” the review reads. “Overall, there’s the sense of a legend looking back on a life well spent.”
The autumnal mood is more pronounced than ever, according to the review. One song, “Days We Left Behind,” shuffles through old black-and-white photos and finds only “smoky bars and cheap guitars/But nothing built to last.”
What Comes Next
The three new songs add texture, and the flipped “Home to Us” offers a fresh angle on a familiar duet.
The physical release’s limited-edition vinyl and Kate Gibb cover give collectors a reason to reach for the physical version.
Our Call
This is a nice move from McCartney. The three unreleased tracks offer fresh material, and the flipped “Home to Us” remix is a clever way to rework a duet without starting over from scratch.
The album itself, per Rolling Stone, holds together as a warm, nostalgic late-career statement. McCartney’s reflections on his Liverpool childhood — Speke, Forthlin Road, Dungeon Lane — give the record a genuine human center.
The Special Edition is a smart package: new music, a visual tie-in, and a remixed duet. It offers a reason to revisit the material.
Source material: “Paul McCartney Expands ‘The Boys of Dungeon Lane’ With 3 Unreleased Songs for Special Edition,” Rolling Stone.
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