McCARTNEY The Love We Make Trailer

I am confused there seems to be two discussions on this:

I personally think the difference between 'George and Bangladesh', John's 'Give Peace A Chance' and Paul's 'Freedom' project is that George and John's good causes were subjects 'close to their hearts' and things they were really into ie India and the Peace movement so were genuine, where as Paul did not have a history or indeed as far as I know hold any interested in the whole Middle East situation (maybe I am wrong any one know?) prior to 9/11 and i think because of this it comes of as publicity for his own ends, saying that though as long as good came from it, does it matter?

Whether Paul was using the whole project for his own publicity needs i can not decide either way?

 

I'm not really following this. McCartney's connection to the cause would be his long term history with NYC. I can't speak to his motivation, but I don't think one can deny that he's had a link to the city for a long long time.

McCartney's prior interest (or lack thereof) in the "whole Middle East situation" is as relevant (in your argument) as Harrison's prior interest (or lack thereof) in flooding. In both cases, it's about the victims, not the cause/perpetrators/politics of the situation.

 

The comparisons to Lennon and Harrison's events are nonsense. The 9/11 concert itself, I think we all remember, was all about the victims and raising money. The way it was filmed, the focus on the victims etc. I don't remember McCartney seeming like much more than the big name closer of the concert.

This film... I do think its a way for McCartney to gain some credit and a notch in his belt. If there the hidden motivation to be like Harrison or Lennon then so be it. McCartney has probably given away a ton of money without credit so if he wants a little spotlight, so what? I did not feel like the film was at all steeped in the goodness of Paul McCartney.

By they way, I never saw the Bowie cover of "America". Guess I tuned it late. That is fantastic.

 

Well, after having seen the film, it's clear that the original posters in this thread were way, way off. The film was very tastefully done and not at all self-aggrandizing. It wasn't even about the tragedy itself, but about the aftermath and the putting together of the concert. No, Paul doesn't always come off as perfect, but he definitely comes off as a very nice guy.

 

The point i was trying to get across is that the public associate George with India and John with Peace so are much more sympathetic to what they did because to Joe Public, of course George would help his mentor Ravi to raise money. I am personally unaware of Paul's relationship with New York, (what is Paul's long term history with New York anyway?) so it may not been seen in the same way as Harrison or Lennon's was?

Again i really personally don't have an opinion or care about how true Macca's intentions were for that event!

 

Linda was from New York and Paul has owned a home there for many, many years. Of course, that's also where the Beatles first broke in America.

 

You know, I thought a lot of the same negative things I'm reading when I watched this. But, come on, the guy is just human. It's kind of interesting seeing how he navigates through his very human existance, while everybody is kissing he a$$. It was fun to watch Pete be real with him.......basically blowing him off. I wouldn't tell Paul what to do.....how can you....he's had so much success basically following his gut. I think one thing that was obvious throughout this entire doc was that Paul really has no level of importance....nothing seems like a very big deal. He seems to take on everything equally. He's in Paul world. "Hey, Jim Carey.....hey, Bill Clinton.....hey, some fireman." He's seems as concerned with Howard Stern as he is with the concert. It's all weird and interesting. Stella was a trip....."oh, Daddy" this and that. I like that bit about his kids going to public school so they learn to relate to everyone equally. See, very telling.

 

My take on that is that McCartney doesn't know why he did it either except that he felt like doing something. He tries to explain his motivation but it never gels He never tries to justify in any big way.

If anything I kept thinking that McCartney was overly self conscious that all he could give was his music and his relationship with the big stars he could attract. That's probably too much of my personal interpretation there but its what I kept thinking while I was watching.

He mentions the 1964 association to NYC but again he doesn't go overboard trying to be associated with NYC or the victims.

 

I personally find it odd that his band just sit like 'Good School Children' and being on there best behavior and Paul appears to be this crazy like 'School Master Figure' IMO, very odd for a Rock band and a far cry from seeing The Beatles larking about

 

A single mistake about who was in the line-up has nothing to do with the reviewer's opinion of the film and it's the reviewer's opinion - that the McCartney-produced film didn't always show McCartney in the most flattering light - that I felt was relevant to the discussion.

 

Yeah...like he knew he had to do something. It's hard to figure his intention other than he knew he could put this name on it and it would come together. Like he had a responsibility to do it....in Paul world, of course. Another thought, as part of my prior post, too, is that he didn't go to other performers/peoples waiting rooms, they came to him.....the former President came to him....they all came to him. That's what he knows, hence, probably why he thinks like that and does what he does. He did go see Eric Clapton, though, so he's a Macca VIP.

 

"Paul world" is a great way to put it.

The only disagreement I have is that Clinton seemed to get his attention big time especially when he (Clinton) started gushing over James Taylor. That was great because Paul world briefly clashed with Bill world. I also love that Townshend wants nothing to do with Paul world.

 

That concert was literally the first time Paul had played with that band in front of a live audience. It makes sense that they weren't as loose with him as they are now.

 

Yeah....LOL!

Wait....Bill loves James Taylor more than me......WTF. He probably took a mental note there.....do a private function for Bill Clinton, that'll make him love me. Oh, wait, he did for Obama. Maybe he was just being pro-active. He's definitely a positional player....the Brett Hull of musicians.

 

I'm not sure what McCartney's relationship is with James Taylor but I'm pretty sure they're not best buddies. So when Clinton is getting sentimental about Taylor playing for him on a boat and McCartney grabs Taylor's arm like they're married to each other... wow!

 

Right... that figures, thanks for that info!

 

When did Brian join? It was strange not seeing him or Wicks.

 

Brian had not joined yet at that point.

 

One thing that puzzles me about this film is - how did they manage to edit Heather completely out? My impression was that she was pretty much attached to Paul's side at the time. I would bet there was a lot of footage they wanted to use but couldn't for that reason. It must have made the task much harder.

 

Haven't seen The Love We Make yet, but I just gotta say something.... Just watched some of the Concert For New York City show and I don't get the dissing of Freedom. There's NOTHING wrong with this song. Paul sings it very earnestly... closing his eyes and giving a very nice vocal performance. At times he sounds almost angry, which fits the moment quite well. The music is just fine and I like Rusty's understated lead and Will Lee's bassline. Most importantly, the audience is digging it. New song or not, firemen and other audience members can be seen with eyes closed belting out the chorus. They all clap along quite happily and in my opinion it's all very moving. It's a much better "song" than Give Peace A Chance which is basically gobbledegook verses saved by a catchy chorus. It's too bad John didn't re-record this properly in the studio... hotel room sonics don't help matters. Ron

 

Not only is it not such a horrible song, in the documentary it seems like McCartney thinks a sing-a-long piece is what is needed to end the concert. It does come off as a little forced but it doesn't seem like anyone else was looking for a better way to end things. Bottom line is that McCartney is a showman and to my way of thinking that is what he gave to the people of New York. Why would he compromise on the thing he knows how to do best?

Obviously this is McCartney's footage and edited the way he wanted but it seemed like an appropriate song at the time. He could have just as easily ended on Let It Be.

By the way, McCartney never touts the song as a great number. Everytime he mentions it its more about the fact that its simple and people can sing to it. Even when he's talking to Clapton... Clapton doesn't refuse to learn the song, McCartney tells him he doesn't need to hear it, that the song "is in G, very simple, just do your thing".

 

Forgot... another favorite part is Will Lee talking to McCartney. For some reason the filmmakers picked up a lot on Lee. Anyway, Lee is talking to McCartney and brings up the Fab Faux. It was kind of awkward because McCartney does seem to know how to react to it and he asks him what songs they play - sort of pretending to be into it. Lee starts really getting in to fairly nerdy fanboy talk when they are interupted - which was kind of a relief. It's a brief interaction but really cute and mildly uncomforable.

 

It's not an easy song to immediately sing along to though. "Give Peace a Chance" on the other hand is. The chorus is repetitive and simple. "Freedom" seems simple but it's not because it doesn't repeat the same phrasing or melody the 2nd and 3rd times you sing the word 'freedom.' Therefore everybody gets thrown off. You can see the celebrities trying to sing along and just not knowing what to do. It isn't an anthem or a campfire song.

 

Ron, you can say it's a better song than "Give Peace a Chance," but they're both supposed to be anthems, not songs, and there's a reason that people still know and sing GPAC 42 years on, but virtually no one has any idea how "Freedom" goes (or even that it exists).

 

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