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.
Eleanor Rigby
Paul McCartney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding was been,
Lives in a dream.
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door,
Who is it for?
[Chorus]
All the lonely people, where do they all belong?
Father McKenzie, writing the words to a sermon that no one will near,
No one comes near.
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?
[Chorus]
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby died in church and was buried along with her name,
Nobody came.
Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave;
No one was saved.
[Chorus]
The lyrics of Paul McCartney’s song “Eleanor Rigby” paint a picture of two lonely people living their separate lives, with no one to turn to. The song begins by drawing attention to the “lonely people” in society, and the first character we meet is Eleanor Rigby. She is described as a woman who picks up rice after weddings in the church, who “lives in a dream” and “waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door”. It is unclear who this face is for – perhaps it is a mask of cheerfulness she wears to hide her loneliness. In the chorus, McCartney asks “where do they all come from?” and “where do they all belong?”, highlighting the universality of loneliness.
The second verse introduces us to Father McKenzie, who is writing a sermon that will never be heard. He works hard, darning his socks at night, but ultimately feels unfulfilled. The chorus is repeated, and the song ends with the reveal that Eleanor Rigby has died, and “nobody came” to her funeral. Father McKenzie is the only person there, and he leaves feeling like “no one was saved”. The song draws attention to the idea that loneliness can be deadly, and emphasizes the importance of human connection.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at all the lonely people
Observing the sad and solitary individuals who struggle with social isolation and emotional detachment.
Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, lives in a dream.
Eleanor Rigby collects rice after a wedding as an escape from her own life existence which she likes to live in a dream world.
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, Who is it for?
Eleanor Rigby waits anxiously for someone with a face she had hidden in a jar, but wonders whether it belongs to anyone in particular.
All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely people, where do they all belong?
Pondering the origins and appropriate places for all the detached individuals in society.
Father McKenzie, writing the words to a sermon that no one will hear, no one comes near.
Father McKenzie writes empty sermons that remain unheard by anyone since no one is there to listen to him.
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there. What does he care?
Father McKenzie darns his own socks alone at night without anyone's presence, unaware of how much it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.
Eleanor Rigby died in church and was buried along with her name, nobody came. Father McKenzie, wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave; no one was saved.
After Eleanor Rigby's death, nobody came to her funeral except Father McKenzie. He walked away from her grave feeling helpless and unable to save her or anyone else from their loneliness.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@CerenAytekin96
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby
Picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window
Wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Father McKenzie
Writing the words of a sermon that no-one will hear
No-one comes near
Look at him working
Darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there
What does he care?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby
Died in the church and was buried along with her name
Nobody came
Father McKenzie
Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave
No-one was saved
All the lonely people (Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people (Ah, look at all the lonely people)
Where do they all belong?
@empirefarts
Paul always looks so tired, my poor boy.
@IAmTheRealKen
Still sounds amazing, though.
@seans.383
its his eye shape
@liam4343
yeah he has the eye shape of a south park character. nevertheless, he may be the best musician to walk the planet
@alexandrialara5606
I think it’s just how his eyes are shaped
@e.gundogan8656
No he looked like didn't get sleep last night
@ignaciodemiguel3683
Woah, this Paul dude can definitely sing. He should consider being in a band or something.
@michachodkowski8499
Yeah... and the name of this band should be... garsshoopers... or something like that
@ajricherson1099
@@michachodkowski8499 no, that's too similar to Buddy Holly and the Crickets. Gotta be something else...
@muhammadnazmi5490
I know one drummer that really good. Maybe they can make a band together. His name is Richard Starkey