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.
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five
Paul McCartney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She may be right
She may be fine
She may get love but she won't get mine
'Cause I got you
Oh, oh I, oh oh I
Well I just can't enough of that sweet stuff
(Shake it, baby, don't break it)
Oh my mama said the time would come
When I would find myself in, love with you
I didn't think
I never dreamed
That I would be around, to see it all come true
Whoa oh oh I, oh oh I
Well I just can't get enough of that sweet stuff
My little lady gets behind
Ah no one left alive in 1985, will ever do
She may be right
She may be fine
She may get love but she won't get mine
'Cause I got you
Oh oh I, oh oh I
Well I just can't get enough of that sweet stuff
My little lady left behind
The lyrics of "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" by Paul McCartney & Wings can be interpreted as a declaration of love and devotion to the singer's significant other. The opening lines, "On no one left alive in 1985, will ever do," and "Ah no one left alive in 1985, will ever do," suggest that the singer is proclaiming his love for his partner to be eternal and never to be surpassed. He states that even if his partner may be fine and may find love from others, he will always choose her because he has her, and nothing and no one can ever replace her. The lines, "She may get love, but she won't get mine, 'Cause I got you," demonstrate the singer's commitment to staying true to his love, even if others come and go.
The lyrics also express the singer's longing and desire for intimacy, with phrases like "I just can't enough of that sweet stuff" and "My little lady gets behind." The lines, "Oh my mama said the time would come when I would find myself in love with you" and "I never dreamed that I would be around to see it all come true" suggest that the love between the two is a goal that was unforeseen, but now is being fulfilled. The repetition of the phrase, "oh oh I," in the chorus affirms the singer's excitement and happiness for being in love with his partner.
Line by Line Meaning
On no one left alive in 1985, will ever do
No one in the future can compare to what I have
She may be right
My current partner might be a good match for me
She may be fine
My current partner is attractive and desirable
She may get love but she won't get mine
Although others may love my current partner, I am the only one for her
'Cause I got you
I am happy to have found my true love in you
Oh, oh I, oh oh I
My love for you is strong and unwavering
Well I just can't enough of that sweet stuff
I cannot get enough of your love
My little lady gets behind
I love it when my partner shows me love and affection
(Shake it, baby, don't break it)
I want my partner to keep showing me love without going overboard
Oh my mama said the time would come
My mother predicted I would find true love someday
When I would find myself in love with you
I am deeply in love with you now
I didn't think
I never imagined this kind of love existed
I never dreamed
This kind of love was beyond my wildest dreams
That I would be around, to see it all come true
I am grateful to be alive to witness this kind of love
Whoa oh oh I, oh oh I
My love for you intensifies every day
My little lady left behind
I cannot bear to be away from my partner for too long
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: LINDA MCCARTNEY, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind