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.
Average Person
Paul McCartney Lyrics
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Look at the average person
Speak to the man in the street
Can you imagine the first one you'd meet?
Well, I'm talking to a former engine driver
Trying to find out what he used to do
Tells me that he always kept his engine
But he said his only great ambition
Was to work with lions in a zoo
Oh to work with lions in a zoo
Yes dear, you heard right
Told me his ambition was to work with lions every night
[Chorus]
Well, I met a woman working as a waitress
I asked exactly what it was she did
Said she worked the summer crowd at seasides
Winter time she ran away and hid
Once she had a Hollywood audition
But the part was given to a kid
Yes,the part was given to a kid
Yes sir, you heard it right
Hollywood ambition made a starlet grown up overnight
Well I bumped into a man who'd been a boxer
Asked him what had been his greatest night
He looked into the corners of his memory
Searching for a picture of the fight
But he said he always had a feeling
That he lacked a little extra height
(Could have used a little extra height)
Yes mate, you heard right
He always had a feeling that he might have lacked a little height
Look at the average person
Speak to the man in the queue
Can you imagine the first one is you?
Look at the average person.
In "Average Person," Paul McCartney sings about the everyday people that make up society. The chorus encourages listeners to look at the average person and speak to the man in the street, urging us to see and talk to people as individuals instead of just blending in with the crowd. The song features three different verses, each focused on a different person's aspirations and ambitions.
In the first verse, Paul meets a former engine driver who has always dreamed of working with lions in a zoo. Despite spending his career taking care of trains, he never lost sight of his true passion for wild animals. The second verse introduces a waitress who worked summers at the beach and had a Hollywood stint, although she ultimately missed out on stardom. Finally, McCartney speaks with a boxer who always had a feeling that he lacked a little extra height. Each of these people has their own dreams and goals, but they are all just average people.
One interpretation of the lyrics is that McCartney is encouraging us to look beyond the surface and see people for who they really are, rather than just the jobs they hold or the roles they play in society. The chorus's repetition of "look at the average person" reinforces this idea, emphasizing that everyone has their own story and uniqueness that sets them apart from the crowd.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at the average person.
Take a close look at ordinary people and their lives.
Speak to the man in the street.
Communicate with common people to know their struggles and aspirations.
Can you imagine the first one you'd meet?
Would you be able to imagine the life and dreams of the first person you talk to?
Well, I'm talking to a former engine driver Trying to find out what he used to do Tells me that he always kept his engine Spit and polished up as good as new But he said his only great ambition Was to work with lions in a zoo Oh to work with lions in a zoo Yes dear, you heard right Told me his ambition was to work with lions every night
The artist meets a former engine driver who obsessively maintained his engine, yet his greatest ambition was to work with lions at a zoo.
Well, I met a woman working as a waitress I asked exactly what it was she did Said she worked the summer crowd at seasides Winter time she ran away and hid Once she had a Hollywood audition But the part was given to a kid Yes,the part was given to a kid Yes sir, you heard it right Hollywood ambition made a starlet grown up overnight
The artist meets a waitress who earns a living during summers and disappears in winters. She once had an audition for a Hollywood role, but it was given to a child actor, despite her ambition to become a movie star.
Well I bumped into a man who'd been a boxer Asked him what had been his greatest night He looked into the corners of his memory Searching for a picture of the fight But he said he always had a feeling That he lacked a little extra height (Could have used a little extra height) Yes mate, you heard right He always had a feeling that he might have lacked a little height
The singer meets a retired boxer who recalls his old fights but wishes he had been taller to achieve greater success in his career.
Look at the average person Speak to the man in the queue Can you imagine the first one is you?
The song ends with a repeat of its first lines, urging listeners to empathize with the struggles and desires of ordinary people by imagining themselves in their shoes.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind