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.
Things We Said Today
Paul McCartney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If I have to go
You'll be thinking of me
Somehow I will know
Someday when I'm lonely
Wishing you weren't so far away
Then I will remember
You say you'll be mine, girl
'Til the end of time
These days such a kind girl
Seems so hard to find
Someday when we're dreaming
Deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember
The things we said today
Me, I'm just the lucky kind
Love to hear you say that love is luck
And, though we may be blind
Love is here to stay
And that's enough
To make you mine, girl
Be the only one
Love me all the time, girl
We'll go on and on
Someday when we're dreaming
Deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember
Things we said today
Me, I'm just the lucky kind
Love to hear you say that love is luck
And, though we may be blind
Love is here to stay
And that's enough
To make you mine, girl
Be the only one
Love me all the time, girl
We'll go on and on
Someday when we're dreaming
Deep in love, not a lot to say
Then we will remember
The things we said today
The lyrics to "Things We Said Today" by Paul McCartney explore the nature of promises and the power they hold over personal relationships. In the song, McCartney reveals the importance of the things people say to one another in the context of love and affection. He suggests that promises can carry a special kind of weight that lasts beyond the moments in which they are made. The lyrics highlight the idea that promises can be a source of comfort and inspiration in moments of loneliness and uncertainty.
The first two verses of the song focus on promises made between two people in a romantic relationship. The first verse suggests that even if one partner has to leave the other, the love they share will remain strong. The second verse speaks of a promise to stay together forever. The refrain, which repeats after each verse, emphasizes the lasting power of these commitments. McCartney says that even when distance and time separate people, the things they've promised to each other will endure.
The third and final verse is more introspective in nature. It suggests that the promises made between people are necessary for a happy and fulfilled love life. However, these promises must come from within oneself. McCartney says that his lucky nature is to be able to love someone so deeply and hear them commit to the same level of love in return. The final refrain serves as an affirmation of the power of love and promises to sustain a relationship through all of life's ups and downs.
Line by Line Meaning
You say you will love me
You promise to love me
If I have to go
Even if I have to leave you for some reason
You'll be thinking of me
You will keep me in your thoughts
Somehow I will know
I will somehow feel your love and care even when we are apart
Someday when I'm lonely
There will be times when I feel lonely
Wishing you weren't so far away
I will wish that you were with me
Then I will remember
I will recall
The things we said today
All the promises we made to each other
You say you'll be mine, girl
You promise to be mine
'Til the end of time
Forever
These days such a kind girl
It's hard to find someone as kind as you these days
Seems so hard to find
It's difficult to find such a kind girl
Me, I'm just the lucky kind
I consider myself lucky to have you
Love to hear you say that love is luck
I love when you say that love is not just destiny, but also a matter of luck
And, though we may be blind
Even though we may not fully understand love
Love is here to stay
Our love is strong and will last
And that's enough
This is all we need
To make you mine, girl
To have you as mine forever
Be the only one
To be my only love
Love me all the time, girl
To always love me
We'll go on and on
Our love will continue forever
Someday when we're dreaming
There will be times when we dream
Deep in love, not a lot to say
When we are deeply in love, words are not necessary
Then we will remember
We will recall
The things we said today
All the promises we made to each other
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: John Winston Lennon, Paul James McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind