Paul McCartney’s Continued Passion For Music!
He’s 76 years old, born in 1942 – but Paul McCartney keeps releasing new music, and his latest album is one of his best!
“Egypt Station” is Paul’s 17th solo album.
The name “Egypt Station” is shared by one of McCartney’s paintings from 1988 – yes, the cover art is Paul’s creation…
Macca Rocks To The Top Of The Charts!
“Egypt Station” debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 in September. It was McCartney’s first US number one album since “Tug of War” in 1982, as well as his eighth number-one album overall.
Some reported it was his first #1 solo album, but what they meant was it was his first to debut at #1.
Paul has aggressively promoted the album with many unique musical stunts – his appearance on “Carpool Karaoke” with James Corden was that show’s biggest hit ever – you can see it here – truly amazing:
Here are some of the highlights of “Egypt Station”, some in Macca’s own words:
The album begins with “Opening Station”, the sounds of a train station, then a choir softly taking over, segueing into a beautiful piano piece for 40 seconds, the intro to the song “I Don’t Know”:
I got crows at my window, dogs at my door
I don’t think I can take any more
What am I doing wrong? I don’t know
My brother told me, “Life’s not a pain”
That was right when it started to rain
Where am I going wrong? I don’t know
Here is the video for “I Don’t Know” – one side of a double-sided single release:
What impressed me was the consummate musicianship throughout the album – a mix of ballads, mid-tempo rockers like “Caesar Rock” and more. Next up is the second side of the album’s first single:
Here is the official video for “Come On To Me” – and here is what Paul’s website says:
You’ve seen what Little Freddie, Ali, and Elsa can do. Think you can do better? Show us! Film yourself dancing to ‘Come On To Me’ and post a video to Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #COTMChallenge
Well, get dancing!
Another great song has Paul admitting is came from his past, when he found himself:
“Busy Doing Nothing!”
Those are Paul’s words for the very reflective “Happy With You” – here is a great video with Paul explaining the point of this song, including him explaining how he used to be “busy doing nothing”:
On holiday, just noodling around on his guitar…well, here is the result.
I sat round all day
I used to get stoned
I liked to get wasted
But these days I don‘t
‘Cause I’m happy with you
I got lots of good things to do, ooh yeah
I walked around angry
I used to feel bad
But nowadays my days
Don‘t have to be sad
‘Cause I’m happy, with you
I got lots of good things to do, ooh yeah
Lots of great autobiographical stuff here, and here is the “audio only” version of “Happy With You” – a really beautiful song:
He’s got a few punchy rockers like “Who Cares” on the album and more reflective material as well, like “Confidente”:
You used to be my confidante
My underneath’s darkest friend
But I fell out of love with you
And brought our romance to an end
I played with you throughout the day
And told you every secret thought
Unlike my other so-called friends
You stood beside me as I fought
You stood beside me as I fought
You used to be my confidante
Here is the “audio only” song “Confidente:”
The one “controversial” song on the album is due to his playfulness with the lyrics of “Fuh You”.
Here is the video for “Fuh You”:
Paul released a lot of short interview material, and it’s very interesting, especially related to this song about the world just wanting to live in peace.
Here is the thought behind his plea “People Want Peace”:
By the way, “Egypt Station” is packed with music – 16 tracks in all, and many songs have intricate, experimental moments added – and he seems to be trying to talk about important issues as well.
Here is Paul explaining the idea behind “Despite Repeated Warnings” – related to global warming:
This is an important topic for Paul, and he released an extended version of the song on YouTube – it splits to different mini-songs, like “Band On The Run” – a really great song:
What I really love about the album is the musicianship, as evidenced in the last song – a trilogy called “Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link” – which ends with a 2:30 guitar instrumental from Paul….
Bravo Paul! I really love the way that album ends, really highlighting the effort and care that went into the music.
To promote the release, Paul did an entire concert from New York’s Grand Central Station!
Here is that YouTube concert, and for fans of Macca’s more obscure work, note that the second song performed is “Hi Hi Hi!”
Congrats to Paul on the latest album, and if you want more of his experimental music, you should know about “The Fireman”:
“Electric Arguments” is his collaboration with the Producer Youth – and this latest one is phenomenal – see some of the videos here:
Let me know what you think of “Egypt Station!”