quora

If Paul McCartney is a musical genius, why doesn't he continue to write hit songs or music that's at the level he used to?

Because producing good songs requires not only genius, but also inspiration, hard work & collaboration

1) John Lennon & Paul McCartney were in an internal competition to write the best songs. John once said whenever they finished an Album he'd just get baked. But because Paul already started writing songs for the next album, it put lots of pressure on John to work hard as well, creating a positive feedback loop of wanting to one-up each other (which burned them out after just 7 years)

Nowadays Paul McCartney enjoys touring. He enjoys being Paul McCartney. He enjoys playing with his daughter. He probably spends 10 times less hours on writing songs these days, compared to when he was young.

2) Every Paul McCartney song with The Beatles isn't just Paul writing the song and recording it— it's also Lennon, Harrison, Ringo & Martin (each of them superb artists in their own rights), who added a piece of their own techniques & personal touch to "Paul's songs". Could you imagine A Day in the Life without the Orchestra & John's part? Or Abbey Road without Something & Come Together?

The best music is made in a team. The problem is just that the name Paul McCartney is so big nowadays that almost nobody dares to challenge him, which makes real collaboration very difficult. Occasionally, when Paul is working with people who are not intimidated by his legendary reputation (Dave Grohl, Kanye West, Nigel Godrich), he is still able to produce award-winning, chart-breaking & critically acclaimed music, even at age 80!