Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, s… Read Full Bio ↴Sir James Paul McCartney CH MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and record and film producer who gained worldwide fame as co-lead vocalist and bassist for the Beatles. His songwriting partnership with John Lennon remains the most successful in history. After the group disbanded in 1970, he pursued a solo career and formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda, and Denny Laine.

A self-taught musician, McCartney is proficient on bass, guitar, keyboards, and drums. He is known for his melodic approach to bass-playing (mainly playing with a plectrum), his versatile and wide tenor vocal range (spanning over four octaves), and his eclecticism (exploring styles ranging from pre-rock and roll pop to classical and electronica). McCartney began his career as a member of the Quarrymen in 1957, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Starting with the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, he gradually became the Beatles' de facto leader, providing the creative impetus for most of their music and film projects. His Beatles songs "And I Love Her" (1964), "Yesterday" (1965), "Eleanor Rigby" (1966) and "Blackbird" (1968) rank among the most covered songs in history.

In 1970, McCartney debuted as a solo artist with the album McCartney. Throughout the 1970s, he led Wings, one of the most successful bands of the decade, with more than a dozen international top 10 singles and albums. McCartney resumed his solo career in 1980. Since 1989, he has toured consistently as a solo artist. In 1993, he formed the music duo the Fireman with Youth of Killing Joke. Beyond music, he has taken part in projects to promote international charities related to such subjects as animal rights, seal hunting, land mines, vegetarianism, poverty, and music education.

McCartney is one of the most successful composers and performers of all time. He has written or co-written 32 songs that have reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2009, had sales of 25.5 million RIAA-certified units in the United States. His honours include two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1999), 18 Grammy Awards, an appointment as a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1965, and a knighthood in 1997 for services to music. As of 2020, he is also one of the wealthiest musicians in the world, with an estimated fortune of £800 million.

Best known for primarily using a plectrum or pick, McCartney occasionally plays fingerstyle. He was strongly influenced by Motown artists, in particular James Jamerson, whom McCartney called a hero for his melodic style. He was also influenced by Brian Wilson, as he commented: "because he went to very unusual places". Another favourite bassist of his is Stanley Clarke. McCartney's skill as a bass player has been acknowledged by bassists including Sting, Dr. Dre bassist Mike Elizondo, and Colin Moulding of XTC.

During McCartney's early years with the Beatles, he primarily used a Höfner 500/1 bass, although from 1965, he favoured his Rickenbacker 4001S for recording. While typically using Vox amplifiers, by 1967, he had also begun using a Fender Bassman for amplification. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he used a Wal 5-String, which he said made him play more thick-sounding basslines, in contrast to the much lighter Höfner, which inspired him to play more sensitively, something he considers fundamental to his playing style. He changed back to the Höfner around 1990 for that reason. He uses Mesa Boogie bass amplifiers while performing live.

McCartney was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 as a member of the Beatles and again as a solo artist in 1999. In 1979, the Guinness Book of World Records recognised McCartney as the "most honored composer and performer in music", with 60 gold discs (43 with the Beatles, 17 with Wings) and, as a member of the Beatles, sales of over 100 million singles and 100 million albums, and as the "most successful song writer", he wrote jointly or solo 43 songs which sold one million or more records between 1962 and 1978. In 2009, Guinness World Records again recognised McCartney as the "most successful songwriter" having written or co-written 188 charted records in the United Kingdom, of which 91 reached the top 10 and 33 made it to number one.

McCartney has written, or co-written, 32 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100: twenty with the Beatles; seven solo or with Wings; one as a co-writer of "A World Without Love", a number-one single for Peter and Gordon; one as a co-writer on Elton John's cover of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"; one as a co-writer on Stars on 45's "Medley"; one as a co-writer with Michael Jackson on "Say Say Say"; and one as writer on "Ebony and Ivory" performed with Stevie Wonder. As of 2009, he has 15.5 million RIAA certified units in the United States as a solo artist plus another 10 million with Wings.

Credited with more number ones in the UK than any other artist, McCartney has participated in twenty-four chart topping singles: seventeen with the Beatles, one solo, and one each with Wings, Stevie Wonder, Ferry Aid, Band Aid, Band Aid 20 and "The Christians et al." He is the only artist to reach the UK number one as a soloist ("Pipes of Peace"), duo ("Ebony and Ivory" with Wonder), trio ("Mull of Kintyre", Wings), quartet ("She Loves You", the Beatles), quintet ("Get Back", the Beatles with Billy Preston) and as part of a musical ensemble for charity (Ferry Aid).

"Yesterday" is one of the most covered songs in history with more than 2,200 recorded versions, and according to the BBC, "the track is the only one by a UK writer to have been aired more than seven million times on American TV and radio and is third in the all-time list ... [and] is the most played song by a British writer [last] century in the US". His 1968 Beatles composition "Hey Jude" achieved the highest sales in the UK that year and topped the US charts for nine weeks, which is longer than any other Beatles single. It was also the longest single released by the band and, at seven minutes eleven seconds, was at that time the longest number one. "Hey Jude" is the best-selling Beatles single, achieving sales of over five million copies soon after its release.

In July 2005, McCartney's performance of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with U2 at Live 8 became the fastest-released single in history. Available within forty-five minutes of its recording, hours later it had achieved number one on the UK Official Download Chart.

In December 2020, the release of his album McCartney III and its subsequent charting at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 earned McCartney the feat of being the first artist to have a new album in the top two chart positions in each of the last six decades.

23.Once Upon A Long Ago
Paul McCartney Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Picking Up Scales And Broken Chords
Puppy Dog Tails In The House Of Lords
Tell Me Darling, What Can It Mean?
Making Up Moons In A Minor Key

What Have Those Tunes Got To Do With Me?
Tell Me Darling, Where Have You Been?
Once Upon Along Ago

Children Searched For Treasure

Nature's Plan Went Hand In Hand With Pleasure.
Such Pleasure.
Blowing Balloons On A Windy Day
Desolate Dunes With A Lot To Say

Tell Me Darling, What Have You Seen?
Once Upon Along Ago
Children Searched For Treasure
Nature's Plan Went Hand In Hand With Pleasure.

My Pleasure.
Playing Guitars On An Empty Stage
Counting The Bars Of An Iron Cage
Tell Me Darling, What Can It Mean?

Picking Up Scales And Broken Chords
Puppy Dog Tails In The House Of Lords

Tell Me Darling, What Can It Mean?
Once Upon Along Ago...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Paul McCartney's song, "Once Upon a Long Ago," can initially seem disconnected and random. However, upon closer analysis, the song tells the story of nostalgia and the wistful longing for a simpler time, a time where children played and found joy in simple activities, where nature was appreciated and respected, before the dulling routines of adulthood and societal pressures took hold.

The first stanza describes the absurdity of life, with the contrast between "picking up scales and broken chords" and "puppy dog tails in the House of Lords." In this line, McCartney is contrasting the mundane and the absurd, the rigid and the playful. The second stanza repeats the opening line and adds a question, "What have those tunes got to do with me?" McCartney is reflecting on the past and pondering the significance of these memories to his present situation.

The third stanza is more introspective, with McCartney questioning where he has been and what he has seen. The fourth stanza repeats the nostalgia and the longing for the past, with the same structure as the first. Finally, the fifth stanza features a contrast between freedom and confinement, between playing guitar on an empty stage and being trapped in an iron cage, and again poses the question, "What can it mean?" McCartney is conveying his desire to understand the complexities of existence while contrasting it with simpler pleasures.

Line by Line Meaning

Picking Up Scales And Broken Chords
Starting from the basics of music and working through difficulties

Puppy Dog Tails In The House Of Lords
Juxtaposing the silly with the sublime

Tell Me Darling, What Can It Mean?
Asking for insight and understanding

Making Up Moons In A Minor Key
Expressing emotion through creative means

What Have Those Tunes Got To Do With Me?
Questioning the relevance of something seemingly unrelated

Tell Me Darling, Where Have You Been?
Asking for someone's experience and perspective

Once Upon A Long Ago
A distant memory from the past

Children Searched For Treasure
The innocence of childhood and the pursuit of adventure

Nature's Plan Went Hand In Hand With Pleasure
Appreciating the simple beauty of the natural world

Such Pleasure.
Acknowledging the blissful experience of being alive

Blowing Balloons On A Windy Day
Enjoying simple pleasures and living in the moment

Desolate Dunes With A Lot To Say
Finding meaning and significance in unexpected places

Playing Guitars On An Empty Stage
Expressing oneself through art and creativity

Counting The Bars Of An Iron Cage
Feeling trapped or limited by circumstances

Tell Me Darling, What Can It Mean?
Continuing to seek understanding and insight

Once Upon A Long Ago...
Reflecting on the past and how it shapes the present

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Paul James McCartney

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Most interesting comment from YouTube:

0000Acura

9y↑4

Picking up scales and broken chords
Puppy dog tails in the House of Lords
Tell me darling
What can it mean?

Making up moons in a minor key
What have those tunes got to do with me?
Tell me darling
Where have you been?

Once upon a long ago
Children searched for treasure
Nature's plan went hand in hand
With pleasure
Such pleasure.

Blowing balloons on a windy day
Desolate dunes with a lot to say
Tell me darling
What have you seen?

Once upon a long ago
Children searched for treasure
Nature's plan went hand in hand
With pleasure
My pleasure.

Playing guitars on an empty stage
Counting the bars of an iron cage
Tell me darling
What can it mean?

Picking up scales and broken chords
Puppy dog tails in the House of Lords
Help me darling
What does it mean?

Once upon a long ago....