Paul McCartney Album by Album Thread

Funny you should say that. I was listening to TOW and POP yesterday, and the line “I acted like a dustbin lid” made me go, WTF.

I like most of Paul’s lyrics but there is the occasional line where I wonder what he was thinking.

 

At the time, people made fun of Shakespeare for writing ridiculous lines. People laughed their heads off when they first heard "To be or not to be, that is the question".

But now 400 years later, it is considered to be a classic line.

So just wait ...

 

Dustbin lid might be English rhyming slang for kid. Over here we use the 'tin lid' variation.

 

All those words/expressions make me chuckle, particularly when said with an accent.

 

It could be what he meant, it makes sense if he did, but you never know with Macca Someone will be able to verify, maybe.

 

I think McCartney just chooses words that he thinks sound good or go along with the music, it's just that simple. It's not pot or laziness and it certainly isn't that he's not a good lyricist, truth is he's one of the absolute best! McCartney trust his instincts, he doesn't like messing with his creativity too much, and it has worked out pretty good for him I'd say.

Daytime Night time/Goodnight Tonight - I agree this is one of Wings best singles both songs are excellent, one with great background and harmony singing the other with one of McCartney's career high bass lines!

Back To The Egg - I like this album, not as much as some but the good is very good.

Getting Closer - Wish McCartney was performing it live.
Arrow Through Me - Absolutely love McCartney in blue eyed soul mode.
After The Ball/Million Miles/Winter Rose/Love Awake - I can't express how much I love all of these, I'm one of those who just loves to hear McCartney sing, so these are tops for me!
Baby's Request - To me this song should be a standards hit, it's also a reason I love McCartney's singing, he sounds absolutely perfect on this song!
So Glad To See You Here - wish McCartney had performed this one live as well, a real rocker.
Rockestra Theme - McCartney should be ending his shows with this high energy rocker right now! Between this and Hi Hi Hi, they are the perfect songs to end a show with!

 

Ok, time for my decade-end charts:

Favorite 70's Studio Albums:
1. Band On The Run
2. Venus And Mars
3. Ram
4. Wild Life
5. Back To The Egg
6. Red Rose Speedway
7. London Town
8. Wings At The Speed Of Sound
9. McCartney

Top 20 70's McCartney songs:

1. Silly Love Songs
2. Listen To What The Man Said
3. Goodnight Tonight
4. With A Little Luck
5. Jet
6. Bluebird
7. Girlfriend
8. Let 'Em In
9. Magneto & Titanium Man
10. Band On The Run
11. Some People Never Know
12. Old Siam, Sir
13. Heart Of The Country
14. Junior's Farm
15. Mrs. Vanebilt
16. To You
17. I'm Carrying
18. Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
19. She's My Baby
20. Wonderful Christmastime

 

Maybe it is, but it's still a bad line IMO. He gets away with it because he sings it completely sincerely.

 

I enjoyed “I’ve Had Enough” back in 1978 but not so much anymore. Where you hear the anger, I hear mild irritation He seems to be at a distance from being ticked. Paul has several of these by the numbers rockers that don’t do much for me. Needs some rough edges.

That song reminds me of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” — except I think Lynne succeeds. I sort of dread the ELO song when I first hear the drums, but then the cool bits happen, such as the pumping before the chorus. I wish Paul thrown some curves into his song to at least suggest that he’d “had enough.”

 

Just listened to the “1976” espisode of the Fabcast podcast, and the guys suggest that Paul wrote songs to replace some of his Beatle tracks to play live: “Call Me Back Again” for “Oh Darling” and “You Gave Me the Answer” for any of at least three Beatle tracks. Interesting theory.

 

I love that line. Classic. I always wished he named the song "My Salamander" instead of "Getting Closer". It would have fit the times perfectly (new wave/post-punk).

 

Well, he could have just said "I acted like a little kid", and I'm quite sure he would have considered it. Perhaps that was indeed the line in Paul's original draft?

My guess is he figured the rhyming slang of "dustbin lid' 'scanned' better or sounded more amusing - and I'd actually agree. It surprises me that of all Paul's dodgy lyrics, this is the one that gets most flak.

 

Well, that’s one opinion.

I’m just messin’ with ya.

Nowhere near “best” or “strongest” IMO. I might even like Back to the Egg and London Town even less than Wild Life, but it is interesting to see such a wide swath of opinions and favorites here. I don’t know how many other artists would have such a wide range of tastes across their fanbase. Maybe Dylan? But not many others.

 

This is jumping the gun by a few years, but I just wanted to say that I’ve been listening to all of my albums (not just McCartney) in chronological order for the past few months, and I’m currently listening to Press to Play. How this album ever got its reputation as the worst McCartney album is beyond me. I really think this will be one of those albums that gets a re-evaluation if/when it gets an archive release.

 

Funny. While POP is definitely in my Bottom 5 of Paul albums, "dustbin lid" never bothered me. I never understood why it bothers some people so much.

 

If you consider a woman making you so mad it drives you to drink just a mild irritation there's nothing McCartney could have done, because I hear all of the things you say the song needs and wish McCartney had done, so he'd be fighting a losing battle with you! I've Had Enough Has plenty of rough edges, those guitars are smoking and McCartney is screaming his head off!

Don't Bring Me Down doesn't even begin to sound as hard rocking as I've Had Enough, there's more than enough curves, but hey once again, different strokes for different folks!

I'm not trying to change anyone's mind about the song, because that's a total waste of time, it's like when two people watch the very same movie and both come away with totally different views of it, and even disagree with what the movie was even about!

 

Perfectly stated. "I can't put up with any more...no no no no no no." Those "no"s sound more like a finger-wagging scold who might be placated with a pat on the head. He sounds more sassy than seething. A little nappy in the afternoon might help.

Honestly, I can't even figure out what he's had enough of. I don't even think he knows. Backseat driving and working on a deadline (yeah, right) and some vague thing about maybe being made to pay for a bomb by someone (he should be worried, but he's apparently not because it may pay for one, so it's OK). Then he tells someone to come around if they get weary but right after that he starts bleating about having had enough and wagging his finger again? If I was weary I wouldn't seek out this guy complaining all over the place about having had enough of everything. Sounds like a whiner.

 

You don't seriously believe I've had Enough is a better song than Don't Bring Me Down do you?

 

I've Had Enough is one of the few "normal" (as opposed to something off of Liverpool Sound Collage) Paul songs that I dislike. Another is Angry from Press to Play. Both are limp and show Paul acting angry (or at least attempting to act angry), not actually being angry. Like many have said before, it's as if he said "Gosh, I need to write an angry song so people won't think I'm a lightweight."

Incidentally, his actual angry songs -- Riding To Vanity Fair and Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight are two examples-- are far better.

 

It's never an inappropriate time to talk about the brilliant and misunderstood Press to Play!

 

Paul doesn’t have it in him to sound angry, or he’s had enough, etc., in many, if any of his
“rock”songs.

Oh, he can sound sad or sincere in slow things like “Dear Friend ” but when he kicks it up a notch his inner Little Richard kicks in and he’s having too much fun to be upset about anything and he’s always been like that IMO.

Listen to “I’m Down” and for a guy that’s “really down” he sure sounds like he’s having a ball.

 

I was thinking of "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" and "Wild Life" . . . but they're primitive, not angry.

 

This is a fabulous point, and a real reason why I find the complaints about songs like Angry so frustrating. Nobody ever complained that he didn't sound AT ALL down in I'm Down and yet solo Paul gets criticised for same. I'd much rather people just said they didn't think it was a good song.

 

It would have been better, and people would judge those songs in a more-positive light, if Paul had titled them differently:

"I've Had Enough" should have been titled "I've Had a Little Bit Too Much".

"Angry" should have been titled "Slightly Peeved".

 

At least Angry has an intense instrumental sound. Maybe Phil and Pete are angry McCartney won't stop grinning and trying to hug it out with everyone. (Disclaimer: I actually like Angry a lot).