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.
Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link
Paul McCartney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
No matter how hard I try
She's leaving me to run around
It makes me wanna lay down and cry
Come on back to me right now
You shouldn't have to stay away
I don't play no hide-and-seek
I'm traveling around the world
Trying to find the perfect babe
I found myself a little girl
But now she's started running away
Come on back to me right now
Don't wait to lay, unleash the hounds
If you don't get back today
To find your trail, I'll hunt you down
I've been taken for my younger brother
Life's a bastard but I have no other
I keep waking up when I try to sleep
I've been naked since I was born
Born to follow you wherever you go
But my problem is I never do know
Where you're taking me
I don't have a clue
I've been naked since I was born
Save my soul and set me free
Free to fly home
There's a place I'm meant to be
Down back home
I've been broken in so many places
But together, by a sea of faces
What to make of it
I don't hardly know
I've been waiting for so long, so long
I've been taken for my younger brother
Life's a bastard but I have no other
I keep waking up when I try to sleep
I've been naked for so long
I've been naked for so long
So long, so long, now
The lyrics to Paul McCartney's song Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link touch on themes of lost love, longing, and a sense of being lost and exposed. The first part of the song is about McCartney's search for his lost love. He is traveling around the world to find her, but she keeps running away. He pleads with her to come back to him, saying that he doesn't want to play hide-and-seek. He even threatens to hunt her down if she doesn't return to him.
The second part of the song, Naked/C-Link, is more introspective. McCartney talks about feeling lost and naked since he was born. He has been following someone his entire life but never knows where they are taking him. He feels broken and exposed but waits for something to happen and anxiously waits for his calling. He talks about seeing a sea of faces but doesn't know what to make of it. He longs to find his place in the world and be free.
The lyrics of Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link are reflective of McCartney's own journey as a musician and as a person, constantly searching for meaning and love in his life. It is a profound and personal exploration of the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
I can't find my love
Despite my best efforts, I cannot locate the person I love
No matter how hard I try
Even though I've given it my all
She's leaving me to run around
The person I love is abandoning our relationship to explore other options
It makes me wanna lay down and cry
This situation is causing me great emotional distress
Come on back to me right now
I implore you to return to me immediately
You shouldn't have to stay away
It's not fair to either of us for you to be gone
I don't play no hide-and-seek
I don't want to engage in any games or deception
That's not a game I wanna play
I'm not interested in participating in any sort of trickery or deceit
I'm traveling around the world
I'm journeying to different places across the globe
Trying to find the perfect babe
I'm searching for the ideal romantic partner
I found myself a little girl
I connected with someone who is younger and less experienced in life
But now she's started running away
This person is now avoiding me
Don't wait to lay, unleash the hounds
Don't delay any further, take action to return to me
If you don't get back today
If you don't return to me immediately
To find your trail, I'll hunt you down
I will search for you relentlessly if need be
I've been taken for my younger brother
People confuse me for my sibling who is younger than me
Life's a bastard but I have no other
Life is difficult, but there are no other options
I keep waking up when I try to sleep
I have trouble sleeping and often awaken during the night
I've been naked since I was born
I've always been exposed and vulnerable
Born to follow you wherever you go
I feel destined to accompany you no matter where you lead
But my problem is I never do know
The challenge is that I am often unaware of your intentions or plans
Where you're taking me
I have no idea where you intend to go with our relationship
I don't have a clue
I'm completely in the dark about the direction of our connection
Save my soul and set me free
I beg for salvation and release from this emotional turmoil
Free to fly home
I want to be liberated so that I can return to my place of peace
There's a place I'm meant to be
I strongly feel that I have a specific destination that I should reach
Down back home
This place may be a location that is familiar or comfortable to me
I've been broken in so many places
My heart and spirit have been damaged and wounded repeatedly
But together, by a sea of faces
Despite this pain, I am not alone and there are many supporting me
What to make of it
I am unsure of what to do with this complicated situation
I don't hardly know
I'm struggling to make sense of everything that's happening
I've been waiting for so long, so long
I've been hoping for resolution for an extended period of time
So long, so long, now
This situation has been dragging on for far too long
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Paul James McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind