Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

Soulful? R&B??? I'm not sure what song you're listening to, but it can't possibly be Peace in the Neighborhood

 

Golden Earth Girl is pretty dreadful.

 

Having performed in multiple R&B bands, I most definitely know a soulful R&B sound when I hear it, and PITN has that groove!

 

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The lovers that never where
Imo one of the best songs to come out of the partnership with Costello. Great melody and lyrics and a should be classic. The Off the Ground version is good but the real both the acoustic and band demo from the Costello sessions are much stronger
One of the few very good ones on this album
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I’d say the rough recording of “The Lovers That Never Were” is one of the great, unreleased performances of Paul McCartney’s solo career
costello

 

This demo with Costello features one of the best vocals I ever heard from Paul

 

THE LOVERS THAT NEVER WERE - Another one that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE! It has one of the things that attracts me the most to McCartney's music, his AMAZING SINGING!

 

Golden Earth Girl 10/10 My favourite song from Off the Ground. A ballad like only McCartney can make. Everything is right here

 

The loversThat Never Were 9/10 Another top song! Great on "Off The Ground" but the demo version is even better. Indeed one of the gems from the archives.

 

Golden Earth Girl, nice melody....Awful lyrics 6/10
Lovers - Superb track and possibly my fave Paul/Elvis collaboration, do much prefer the Flowers demo to the over produced version on Off The Ground 8/10

 

Peace In The Neighbourhood: 4/5

This is kind of a dopey song in a way but it’s also really endearing. Paul also turns in a fine vocal performance. There are some soulful chord changes here too notching up the enjoyment factor. Frankly I'm a little surprised at all the dislike for this song. Aside from a bit of cheese in the lyrics, this is a very enjoyable song.


Golden Earth Girl: 4/5

This is such a beautiful ode to Linda and her love of nature and animals. I did always think that the chord change in the “female animal” part were fairly awkward. Wished he’d take a few more minutes to work something else out a bit more pleasant to the ears. They rest of the lyrics are almost poetically Keats/Yeats in their delivery. The music other than the "female animal" bit is very beautiful.


The Lovers That Never Were: 4/5

And yet ANOTHER song that lost some of it's spit and vinegar found in the demo. I’m glad Paul did this one though. The power of the song still carries it on a victory lap late in the album. Elvis recently did a version which is killer on the Purse EP. And Geoff Emerick’s mix of the demo with some conservative treatments is also divine.

 

The Lovers That Never Were.
A fantastic song with great lyrics. The demo version with him and Costello is one of his best post Wings songs hands down. That sandpaper "Oh Woman, Oh Why" voice is just incredible. The album version, whilst still good, never comes close to capturing the magic of the demo. Had he kept or mimicked the original vocal, it would've been a classic. As it is, it's just a very good song.

 

Good description: sandpaper "Oh Woman, Oh Why" voice

 

The truth is probably in the middle of these two widely opposite opinions.
I'm reminded of the scene in ' Amadeus ' when Mozart attends one of Saliere's performances and is asked what he thought of it. Mozart replies one hears the music and immediately thinks ' Saliere ' and he adds he didn't think such music could be composed. What is he really saying?

 

rocky racoon ?

 

The Lovers That Never Were

A highlight. This is a romantic song. The performance is amazing with sweet and powerful vocals and great melody. And the lyrics expressing a genuine true love, sometimes obsessive, sometimes crazy but at the end, words of love. Bravo!!!

Lyrics:

I have always needed somebody girl,
But I close the doors to keep out the world.
But for you, I would be here all alone,
Locked in a photograph.
All of the clocks have run down.
Lover beware.
We'll be the lovers that never were.

I hang patiently on every word you send.
Will we ever be much more than just friends?
As for you, you sit there playing this game.
You keep me waiting
When all of the clocks have run down,
All over the world.
We'll be the lovers that never were.

For as long as the sun shines in somebody's eyes,
I believe in you baby, so don't tell me lies.
For as long as the trees throw down blossoms and leaves,
I know there will be a parade of unpainted dreams.

And I know dear, how much it's going to hurt
If you still refuse to get your hands dirty.
So you, you must tell me something,...I love you,
Say goodbye or anything.
All of the clocks have run down.
Time's at an end.
If we can't be lovers we'll never be friends.

For as long as the sun shines in somebody's eyes,
I believe in you baby, so don't tell me lies.
For as long as the trees throw down blossoms and leaves,
I know there will be a parade of unpainted dreams.


Credits:

Produced by Paul McCartney and Julian Mendelsohn
Written by Paul McCartney and Declan MacManus
Backing Vocal, Bass, Lead Vocal, Percussion by Paul McCartney
Backing Vocal, Percussion by Linda McCartney
Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocal, Mandolin, Percussion by Robbie McIntosh
Acoustic Guitar, Backing Vocal, Percussion by Hamish Stuart
Grand Piano, Hammond Organ, Percussion by Paul Wickens
Drums, Percussion by Blair Cunningham
Arrangement, Orchestra Conductor by Carl Davis
Oboe by Gordon Hunt
Flute by Susan Milan
Engineered by Bob Kraushaar
Label: Parlophone
Release Date: February 2, 1993
Recorded at Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Length: 3:43 minutes

Paul's own words:

Club Sandwich Spring 1993 No. 65

"A few years ago Elvis and I got together to see if we could write a few songs. First of all, just to see if we could stand the sight of each other, or if we annoyed each other too much, I fixed one of his songs up, then he fixed up one of mine. That led us to find that it was quite easy and we enjoyed it, so one day we decided to write one from scratch. The question then was, where do we start? We had the whole musical universe to choose from – a rock and roll song, a love song, what would it be? – so I said, “Well, let’s start with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Let’s think of them”, so we started off and ‘The Lovers That Never Were’ came out. It was our first song together.

We did a nice but very, very rough demo of it, just Elvis and me, but when we tried to record it properly it didn’t really work out. So I ignored it for Flowers In The Dirt and decided to try it again for this album. And we thought of bringing in a 4/4 bass drum over a 3/4 song ~ this is for the musicians among you – which just makes it swing. It’s an old rhythm trick but it made it come alive, and we then had a version that we liked. "

 

More about The Lovers That Never Were...

1988 Demo:

 

You have to read between the lines here. This is Macca 'code ' for saying Costello didn't want to do what McCartney wanted him to do. We got what we got from these two working together and there won't be no more.

 

More about The Lovers That Never Were...

Geoff Emerick Mix:

A hidden track from the 2017 Archive Collection Deluxe Edition of Flowers in the Dirt

 

More about The Lovers That Never Were...

From Purse EP, a great version of the song by Elvis Costello & The Imposters

 

Not in LA, not in the US.

I have no idea if the single was played on the radio in the US. Where I live, in Buenos Aires, it was played a lot back then, especially in the months ahead to McCartney's first ever concert here.

 

"Broad Street" is a very poor album, if you think of it as part of McCartney's catalogue. I have no use for it and it is no longer in my collection.

However, it has a number of outstanding songs. So for a person who is not very familiar with McCartney's output, it could be a quite enjoyable listening experience, even if the versions there are for the most part, inferior to the originals.

 

I know "Biker like an Icon" is not very popular around here.

It's one of my favorites in the record. The semi-spoken verse was pretty unusual for McCartney at the time -- it has become quite common in his latter day records, of course.

I think the slide guitar by Robbie McIntosh works very well.

 

I have to agree with most of the comments regarding The Lovers That Never Were. It may be the best of the collaborations. The version on Off The Ground is nothing special but the demo on Flowers In The First is awesome! One of McCartney's best vocals ever.

Great lyrics on this one. I love the line "You must tell me something: I love you, say goodbye or anything". And the way Paul sings that line is just this side of unhinged. Amazing stuff.

 

I'm with you on this one. One of the album's highlights.

 

Yes, it did well in several non-U.S. markets, while U.S. top 40 radio had pretty much given up on Paul.