Paul McCartney’s Backward Lentil Soup

20 years ago, Paul McCartney guest starred on The Simpsons. Here are some interesting facts about this standout episode.

McCartney’s appearance coincided with the release of The Beatles Anthology, an exhaustive ABC miniseries chronicling the band’s entire history, as well as a set of three companion albums of rare tracks. McCartney is such an advocate for animal rights and vegetarianism that he agreed to both The Simpsons and ABC’s Anthology under two conditions: That if Lisa Simpson became a vegetarian in his episode, she had to stay a vegetarian for the course of the series. As for ABC, they had to agree not to air ads by Kentucky Fried Chicken during Anthology. Both demands were met.

Lisa meets Paul and Linda McCartney on the Kwik-E-Mart’s rooftop garden, or “Apu’s garden in the shade,” a reference to the Beatles’ “Octopus’s Garden.” Paul also suggests to Lisa to play his solo hit “Maybe I’m Amazed” backward, where she’ll find a recipe for lentil soup. At the end of the episode, “Maybe I’m Amazed” plays over the credits. McCartney recorded a specially recorded backward message placed over the song. It’s that recipe for lentil soup, and then the words, “Oh, and by the way, I’m alive.” (That references the “Paul is dead” rumors of the late 1960s.)

Here’s the recipe for Paul McCartney’s backward lentil soup:

one medium onion, chopped

two tablespoons of vegetable oil

one clove of garlic, crushed

one cup of carrots, chopped

two sticks of celery, chopped

half a cup of lentils

one bay leaf

one tablespoon of freshly chopped parsley

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

two and a quarter cups of vegetable stock or water