Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

This one is pretty amazing.

 

My understanding is that Eight Days A Week was expected to be the single from the Beatles For Sale sessions. Thats why it has handclaps and little bits of interest - it was worked. But then John presented I Feel Fine and Eight Days A Week was regulated to an album track.

Eight Days A Week is a fine pop song but it's a slight dip in quality from A Hard Days Night as far as singles goes. It would have been the first single not to move their sound forward. I Feel Fine was a better choice. Having said that, it's a highlight of the album and, if the Beatles had chosen to release album tracks as singles, would have been a hit, without a doubt - as it was in the USA.

I'm wondering what the change was between the A Hard Days Night sessions and the Beatles For Sale sessions. To my ears there is a leap in sound quality between the two. Beatles For Sale has much the sound of Rubber Soul. A little spare. A little dyer. A little more controlled, if you will. In a general sense, Paul's bass is better heard on the Beatles For Sale tracks than on previous albums.

 

I always thought George was wearing a gigantic, fluffy tie here. Turns out it was just a gigantic, fluffy sweater. It literally took me 20+ years to realize this.

 

Marijuana. (I’m only half kidding. Maybe even, like, 20% kidding.)

 

It took me just as long to realize that McCartney being in the suitcase was yet another Paul-is-dead clue.

 

I don't care if it's the SONG, DELIVERY, ATTITUDE, PASSION whatever, Bob Dylan can't sing, never could!

There's absolutely no dip in quality when it comes to EIGHT DAYS A WEEK! It's one of the Beatles absolute best!
I don't care what Lennon said, he seemed to be clueless about some of their songs! I just love that harmonizing intro they were trying at first, wish they had kept it in the song, it was a great touch!

 

Eight Days A Week feels somewhat formulaic after the hurricane that was A Hard Day's Night but it still has a great sound. I especially love the harmonies in the middle section.

It's interesting among Beatle singles in that it was a #1 in the U.S. and yet it doesn't seem to get a whole lot of respect in the Beatle world.

 

I agree that John's opinion of his songs is sometimes way off the mark. To be clear, though, my opinion of Eight Days a Week is my own and not influenced by John's statement. Compared to A HardDays Night, I Feel Fine moves forward. Eight Days A Week does not break new ground. Great song - but, with the benefit of hindsight, we marvel at how each new single moves their sound forward. Eight Days A Week would not have done that.

 

I couldn't care less about so called breaking new ground! I care about hearing AN ABSOLUTELY AWESOME SONG, and that's exactly what EIGHT DAYS A WEEK is! The Beatles at their very best!

 

Good thing the Fabs didn’t share your point of view.

 

Eight Days A Week has lots of fun bells and whistles going for it, though it really isn't that great of a composition. But its a very fun recording to listen to. In that way, I kind of put it in the Paperback Writer camp - a song all dressed up that masks the fact that it really isn't that great of a tune.

Now "I Feel Fine" - there's a less-is-more masterpiece - a distillation of what started with You Can't Do That - perfected here.

One is true inspiration - the other more like "look what I can do"- something that would at times follow Paul around in the coming years....

 

Someone please get maccafan a napkin. He 's drooling again.

 

I agree, breaking ground or progressing is at the artist discretion, as a listener I get the privilege of enjoying the results. For me though, that's not a requirement to enjoy music! AC/DC has stuck to straight ahead in your face hard rock from the very beginning, and I love them all the more for it!

Please don't, drooling is part of the enjoyment! It's like the anticipation of eating a big juicy cheeseburger!

 

John was too hard on Eight Days a Week. It's good, solid, catchy pop. But, as others have noted, it didn't move the Beatles' sound forward. But that was just a very brief pause.

 

I LOVE MonkBerry Moon Delight...the insane lyrics...the insane vocals!

 

"Eight Days a Week" is a catchy, decent song. But as you mention, it's formulaic. It's the Beatles doing the tried and tested.

"I Feel Fine" does not move so far from the path of previous singles, but it still has some very distinctive features and feels like a step forward.

 

Now here I was home from work , freshly showered , burning spliff in one hand , a glass of ice tea in the other , ' Beatles For Sale ' on the stereo and reading this forum's comments and I come across this !
What do people see in ' Monkberry Moon Delight ' that pleases them so ? The lyrics and vocals are not " insane " . They are inane.
Mentioning it between comments about 'Eight Days A Week " and ' I Feel Fine ' is a disgrace.
What a buzz kill.

 

But you have to understand that i'm not really a McCartney solo fan; I don't rate much of anything after Band On The Run.

I just love when he rips his vocal cords like this, just like I enjoy my Stooges, punk rock and the grunge music of my teens - it's like a 1971 Kurt Cobain, except the lyrics are totally meaningless and there's quite a bit less angst in it. So you could say I like MMD slightly, slightly gleefully. No hell I'll admit I even like the totally surreal lyrics. Ketchup! Dreadful cantata!

 

Yes, the song’s mostly John’s work, but Paul’s writing style (not to mention his actual voice) is obvious when the middle eight (or whatever you want to call it) comes around (“When I’m home...”)

 

Love it! And this performance by the REO Brothers finally solves the question of who sang the ahhs in "A Day in the Life" (both of them!!):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKwXNkv7gg0