Wings: "Mrs. Vanderbilt"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by MusicFan76, Jan 16, 2006.

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  1. MusicFan76

    MusicFan76 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    East Coast, USA
    What the heck is this song about? And does anyone think this one (along with "Picasso's Last Words") is the long lost gem from Band On The Run?

    And in "Mrs. Vanderbilt," why does it change from Mrs. Vanderbilt to Mrs. Washington in the lyrics?
     
  2. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I think it's about all the pot Paul smoked in those days.
     
  3. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
    He must have had some really good stuff.
     
  4. JWB

    JWB New Member

    The breakdown in the middle where they go "AAAAAAAHHHH!" makes me melt every time.
     
  5. antonkk

    antonkk Senior Member

    Location:
    moscow
    Macca's most famous song of all time in Russia. Known of course as Hop-hey-hop this was as big as National Anthem or Smoke on the Water. :righton:
     
  6. Inscape

    Inscape New Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    I've always seen the title as an allusion to Amy Vanderbilt, who, back in 1952, published one of the most enduringly successful books on "good manners": Amy Vanderbilt's Complete Book of Etiquette. This, I believe, explains why Paul is asking Mrs. Vanderbilt to leave him alone. He has reached a point in his life at which he no longer wants to be bothered by people telling him how he should sip his tea, eat his soup, etc.

    Although I'm not a particularly big fan of the Band on the Run album (I prefer Ram), I have long had a fondness for "Mrs. Vanderbilt," which I consider to be one of Paul's best solo songs.
     
  7. JWB

    JWB New Member

    Really? The whole album is standard "classic rock" radio fare here in America nowadays, but the big hits back in '73 were "Band On The Run" and "Jet".
     
  8. Veech

    Veech Space In Sounds

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Well, I love how the Hoh-Hey-Oh refrain is repeated in both songs. Nifty. :)

    If you've had a chance to hear "McGear", Paul's brother's solo disc from about this time, it's like "Son of Band on The Run". All of the music is written by Paul and many tracks were cowritten with Mike. It's basically Wings performing the music, and Linda's harmonies are all over it. I would say half of the "McGear" tracks would have fit very nicely on BotR if Paul had sung them.
     
  9. Inscape

    Inscape New Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    I'll supplement my previous message about Mrs. Vanderbilt's association with the teaching of etiquette by suggesting that, in the references to Mrs. Washington, Paul is subtly objecting to what he sees as a tendency, on the part of the government in Washington, to try to tell the rest of the world how it should behave. In other words, we move from personal etiquette--the questions of polite behavior with with Amy Vanderbilt is concerned--to political etiquette--the questions of government behavior with which high-ranking officials are concerned. (I am not trying to spark a political discussion; I am simply describing what has always seemed to me to be the underlying meaning of the lyrics.)
     
  10. ascot

    ascot Senior Member

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Hey guys, the Macca song is "Mrs. Vandebilt", not "Mrs. Vanderbilt" --> there is no "R" in the title. :)

    Vanderbilt is a college in Nashville, TN.
     
  11. Gardo

    Gardo Audio Epistemologist

    Location:
    Virginia
    Love the bass line and the bass TONE and the bass ARTICULATION ... what a treat for those of us who dig Paul's playing.
     
  12. Inscape

    Inscape New Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    I suspect that, by dropping the "r" in Vanderbilt, McCartney--or, more likely, his legal staff--was attempting to avoid legal complications. After all, back in the early 70s, Mrs. Vanderbilt was *extremely* well known for her advice on etiquette. (I can still recall my mother getting me a copy of her book in the hope that it would encourage me to be better behaved.) And, of course, back in the early 70s, the ex-Beatles had become favourite targets for people wishing to mount lawsuits; under the circumstances prevailing at that time, even slight legal risks were not worth taking.

    Although I do know about the (excellent) university in Nashville, I do not think that McCartney was thinking of Vanderbilt in this sense. As I've said, the reference is almost certainly to Amy Vanderbilt, who, by 1973, had been in the etiquette business for 20 yearrs.
     
  13. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Maybe Paul just spelled it wrong.
     
  14. Inscape

    Inscape New Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    Given his well-known predilection for heavy doses of pot, this is, I believe, a very real possibility. But I suspect that, if this had been the case, Linda would have corrected him.
     
  15. zipzorp

    zipzorp Senior Member

    Location:
    hollywood
    Hay, I smoke pott all the time and nevver make spelling mistakz...
     
  16. Jack White

    Jack White Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    Hmmmm ... I always assumed that McCartney picked these two names, Vandebilt and Washington, because they sound like old American society names which would vaguely resonate with the listener. I always figured that he just liked the sound of the names and that they fitted within the context of the story, some authority figure disapprovingly telling him what to do and how to live his life. I never assumed that there was any deeper meaning than that.

    Besides, more importantly, the two names fit within the song rhythmically. :)
     
  17. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    I have a Paul McCartney & Wings songbook and it shows the title as "Mrs. Vanderbilt".
     

    Attached Files:

  18. Drifter

    Drifter AAD survivor

    Location:
    Vancouver, BC, CA
    Plus, it sure sounds like Paul sings "Van-der-bilt". As Inscape suggested, I too believe the title change was probably a last minute decision to avoid any legal hassles.
     
  19. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Anyone ever notice the way "I'd Die, Babe" and this song have a similar intro "style"? Or is it just me?
     
  20. brainwashed

    brainwashed Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Boston, MA
    It is similar Steve.... :righton: You guys crack me up! The song is about no one and nothing. It's one of those songs like Ob La Di Ob La Da that is just a made-up story. Ron
     
  21. EditDave

    EditDave New Member

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    I'd have to concur with Brainwashed on this one. I don't think it means anything. Paul's lyrics, throughout much of the '70s, sound like the working lyrics he might have come up with off the top of his head. Why bother to "fix" them? Few of his lyrics make any sense, and they're not very imaginative in an abstract-impressionistic manner, either. They sound good as long as you don't pay much attention. For example, I love the song "Jet," but I'm convinced it has absolutely no narrative that any listener could divine. "I thought the major was a lady suffragette," indeed. :laugh: Same thing with "Little Lamb Dragonfly: Love the music, but the lyrics make me cringe.
     
  22. Inscape

    Inscape New Member

    Location:
    Montreal
    Well, I'll fully concede that, where McCartney is concerned, it usually is safest to assume that the "song is about no one and nothing." And I'll also concede that the names "Vanderbilt" and "Washington" were almost certainly chosen as much on the basis of the way they sound as on the basis of some carefully-crafted allusion to actual persons (living or dead). Still, given that the song is broadly based on the idea of casting away worries, rules, and schedules ("Down in the jungle living in a tent," etc.), I sincerely believe that, even if Paul initially stumbled on the name "Mrs. Vanderbilt" entirely by accident, he quickly recognized that it would be extremely amusing for the song to incorporate an allusion to the world's best-known etiquette expert. Moreover, given the glaring political headlines that dominated most of 1973 (think "Watergate"), I find it hard to believe that the (admittedly vague) association of "Mrs. Washington" with criminality ("robbery" and "time") was purely accidental. (I'm thinking mainly of the line "You don't complain of robbery," as well as these two lines: "Leave me alone Mrs. Washington / I've done plenty of time on my own.")

    Since I don't listen to a lot of Badfinger these days, I had never thought about the similarity between the intro "styles" of "Mrs. Vanderbilt" and "I'd Die, Babe." But, yes, the similarity is certainly there (though I had to go rummaging through my CDs in order confirm this).
     
  23. Driver 8

    Driver 8 Senior Member

    Bigger than "Mull of Kintyre"? :p
     
  24. rpd

    rpd Senior Member

    Location:
    Nashville
    Go Dores!!!! :laugh:
     
  25. soundQman

    soundQman Senior Member

    Location:
    Arlington, VA, USA
    Actually I think the McGear album was recorded a bit later when they had Geoff Britton on drums, like for "Junior's Farm." McGear is a fantastic album, IMO, better than many of Paul's own. His brother had more poetic and humorous lyrics. Maybe because his group Scaffold had more underground art-school types in it or hanging around with the scene in Liverpool, they were a bit more of a comedy group. I remember Roger McGeogh and his madcap surrealism. Scaffold had some commonality with a group called Grimms, which had McGeogh as well as Niel Innes in it. I also felt that Wings really rocked out on this album more than any of their own. Perhaps freed somewhat from Paul's constraints for his own material...although Paul also plays and sings in the background and produces, too I think.
     
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