Sir Paul McCartney gives out his tips on songwriting at community chat event
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- (19 Nov 2014) A SONGWRITING MASTERCLASS FROM SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY
Sir Paul McCartney delighted a group of budding musicians by passing on songwriting tips at a community chat event in London on Wednesday (19 NOV. 2014)
The event, organized by model and actress Lily Cole through her Impossible website, saw the music legend talk about his latest song and share his memories of writing with Beatles band mate John Lennon.
McCartney spoke candidly about his work with Lennon, which he called the "ultimate collaboration."
"I think we were both very lucky to find each other because we played perfectly off each other. An example I always give is I was starting this song called 'Getting Better,' and I'm going 'It's getting better all the time,' and he goes 'It couldn't get much worse.' 'Hey, okay, come on then, let's think about...' You know, you've suddenly got the foil to what you're doing. So the next line isn't just 'getting better' still. It's now like 'okay, we're going there are we? Great' And so I would do that to his songs and he would do that to mine."
Indeed, one of the band's earliest tracks, 1963 smash-hit "I Saw Her Standing There," came together in a similar way.
"My opening was 'she was just 17, she'd never been a beauty queen,'" recalled McCartney. "I was stuck and didn't like it, but I ploughed on knowing I'd come back to it. That was around about the time John and I were starting to write together, so I showed him the song - 'she was just 17, she'd never been a beauty queen' - and we both kind of cringed, you know, 'maybe not.' And then we came up with 'You Know What I Mean,' which a comedian friend of mine years later said 'no Paul, I'm not sure we do know what you mean.' 'She's just 17, you know what I mean?' 'No."
Although the pair were responsible for some of the most iconic songs in the history of music, McCartney said there are plenty of Lennon/McCartney tracks that weren't good enough for release.
"There's a few knocking around. But I mean it's difficult that because why we didn't do anything with them is because we didn't think they were any good. So why resurrect them? It gets tempting though because it was a Lennon/McCartney or something, so it's got a certain interest value if nothing else. But they're not very good."
In addition to talking about his past work, McCartney explained to the audience that he's still trying to break new ground.
His latest song, "Hope For The Future," features in video game "Destiny," which was released in September.
"I got asked would I would be interested in writing music for a video game and I was just intrigued by the idea of doing something different, something I'd never done before, so I was interested just to see what was involved."
The song is set for release soon.
Lily Cole launched the Impossible website in 2013. It allows users to help each other by sharing their time, skills and possessions.
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When Paul McCartney gives you songwriting advice, you listen
I'm only sleeping
For real though
Where was the advice exactly?
Since there is nothing new under the sun, The best book on this subject of song writing is “Steal Like an Artist” by Austin Kleon
@@gregsage9252 How do you sleep?
The fact John and Paul were around the same age, in the same obscure place, at the same time, and met up, is pretty mind blowing. John or Paul, could have searched every town forever and not have found a better musical partner.
Yeah, sometimes its just like its ment to be.
Don't forget Harrison
@@bramsteenhoek2674 - I never forget George. I just don't see him as _quite_ on their level as a songwriter which is certainly no criticism since... who is? Something, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Here Comes the Sun, are definitely among the best the band had to offer. Songs for the ages. But he wasn't as consistently genius as John and Paul in my opinion, even though he was no question a world class songwriter. He's arguably the best musician in the band though (it's between him and Ringo)
@@ikigai47 yeah but I think he still deserves to be metioned during the whole 'just some boys from liverpool finding one another' speecj
@@bramsteenhoek2674 - I see what you're saying but it doesn't blow my mind that George was around in the same way of Paul/John meeting each other organically. George was an incredible "teammate," they couldn't have asked for a better guy. But he was a supporting member. Same with Ringo. John and Paul on the other hand were the two most talented songwriters in the history of music that just _happened_ to stumble across each other to join forces accomplish something that's never been done to this day. It's not the same thing, though many I'm sure would disagree and that's fine.
So, I was sleeping, y'know.
Kris G and I went into a dream
And my mother was there
M D her name was Mary and she had said to me, let it be.
And I was like ahhhhh
No I don’t know y’know
I've heard these stories hundreds of times from Paul but they still always make me smile and bring a little tear of joy.
Youre weird then
And in love
He must, at least on some level, get a bit tired of having to answer the same old questions, and roll out pretty much the same responses, time and time again. To his credit, he appears to be ok with it. Ya know. 😉
@@waynej2608 I think he has a large amount of respect for the fans and for himself. He likes and appreciates who he is and is more than willing to share himself with the fans.
And I thought it was just me.
When you really really listen to Paul, John was his equal, and like a true brother to him, you can see just how much he misses him, no disrespect to Paul’s biological brother, who I’m sure he loves dearly.
Paul and his brother were, and are really close.
I could listen to Paul talk about writing for hours and days on end.
Listening to Paul McCartney, it strikes you almost immediately how witty he was. A guy with a great sense of humor. Probably it's one of reasons why The Beatles became so famous.
Was?
@@jivanbansi9640 yeah, was?
jivan bansi he’s referring to his wit in a time-frame as when Paul was ‘with the Beatles’.
I lived through it. I was one of only a few countless millions of original Beatlemaniacs and I say that for no other reason than to brag!!
Their sense of humor WAS an important part of their appeal but in the end, the most important and biggest part of their success was the music.
They all were
John and Paul were the quintessential songwriting team.
Nobody and I repeat, nobody can reach this level of quality. Lennon-McCartney as a team, were and will be just untouchables
They mostly wrote seperately it was the competition that made them great one trying to top the other.
@@bladerunner3887 not true, they didn't mostly work separately, listen to the interview again.
Its good to see Paul is still healthy and doing good with a good sense of humor. God bless the old boy.
Only man in the world who can get a whole room of people completely mesmerised just by talking.
What the fuck?....not true ........
The Beatles were one of... if not the first groups who refused to perform infront of a segregated audience.
No, they weren't the first. Not even close. Elvis Presley was running around Missisippi playing to mixed audiences as early as 1954, as were others.
John Stewart@ he means large highly publicized shows. The only ones that did play to segregated audience's were in small local club venue's. No rockers ever played large stadiums and major theatres till the Beatles.
@@calvinmitchell6381 that's right
@@calvinmitchell6381 Bullshit. Do your homework. By the way, The Beatles never proved themselves as a live touring act. Their 30 little minute sets thru AC30 amps were already washed up by 1966.
I believe Ray Charles may have done it first.
Paul has told these stories a hundred times but never tires of them because of his love for having John by his side
Yeah im bored ridgid by these stories by now lol
He edited the stories and less credit to John , its not what he said decades ago ,the rivalry still there.
@@joshofofw945 Yeah, I caught that too. When it comes to, I Saw Her Standing There, he originally said John thought Paul was daft with the 'never a beauty queen' lyric. And that John gave him the, 'you know what I mean' bit. And Paul knew it was better. Yet, now he says 'we came up with' the better line, rather than John. I mean, ya just know that's a Lennon lyric, if ever. C'mon Macca.
@@waynej2608 he says “we” for everything. Even things that he did he will still say “we”. Stop getting mad over nothing
@@ewest14 I'm not 'mad', just thought some of Paul's comments would benefit from a bit of perspective. To his credit, he recognized John's deft ability with lyrics. You ought to try it.
It’s a minor miracle that they were both teenagers into songwriting and music and met each other! How many teenagers were writing songs back then? Even now that’s something rare. But they complemented each other brilliantly. And both could sing 🎤!
And then George comes along and he could sing and write good songs eventually as well. So that’s Amazing!
To have Three Songwriters in one Band? Unbelievable! I think It was just destined to happen. One of those happy accidents or happenstance that they all found each other. And they changed the World 🌎!
And then Ringo outsells the other three as a solo artist! Amazing!
Thinking the same,what are the chances,do sometimes you think it was supposed to happen?Without a long explanation I think there was going to be a group or persons at a certain time and space to be musicians ,actors and so forth.
The stars aligned perfectly for them.
Dyn Jarren A Major Miracle!♥️🙏🏼
@@davidrynberk3675 Considering the whole human population it's actually quite likely that two great songwriters meat in their teens and write great songs.
at 3:19 an audience member starts asking a very interesting music theory question. - something i have always wished to hear paul's perspective on, but whoever edited this edited out the full question, and edited in a tired, cliched story paul has told a million times. - (that obviously was answering a completely different question.) can someone please post the entire video? i am sure there is much better footage and information than what is presented here.
John and Paul are literally Yin and Yang and together they were incredible!
Paul is just so nice ! He does so much and has made millions, if not billions , of people happier in their lifetime than any other person on this planet !
Nearly 300 songs between him and John. Amazing so many hits.
Tavistock worked hard :)
Sir Paul---- A great man, with incredible talents and a love of humanity.
Amen.
John said in an interview that when their manager Brian died the three of them ( John, George and Ringo) thought, “ well, that’s it then” feeling as though the band was finished.
But Paul brought them together and reminded all that they were in this thing together as brothers and nothing would deter them from doing what they truly loved and that’s what Brian would have wanted, so they carried on together in his honor.
I’m thankful Paul was there to encourage the boys to keep their heads up and press onward as a band.
He prolly meant well, but Paul got to be a bit overwrought, especially his bossy behaviour with George and Ringo. John would pretty much tell him to fook off.
@@waynej2608 you’re such a Paul hater.
@@ewest14 I don't 'hate' Paul. I'm a Beatles' fan, and I dig them all. I just prefer John. Paul's a very talented dude, clearly, he's just a bit full of himself at times.
Lol. I see that a lot of McCartney fans can act like drama queens. Geez.
@@waynej2608 And you think John wasn't full of himself? He definitely was.
@@waynej2608 This stuff has been extremely overblown, I have heard the tapes mate.
The songwriting team of Lennon and McCartney will go down in history as one of the most prolific duos in the world. They complimented each other perfectly. I never had the chance to see John live,but i saw Paul in Syracuse last year. The man is a genius.
Coolest old man ever
he's up there
AWelsh Celt god you’d be lucky to be that together at his age
His shows last for 3 hours
Total high energy performer still
In many ways he defies time
Young at heart, as always.
@AWelsh Celt "Elderly" seems less respectful than "old" to me because it's an attempt to gloss over the truth, whereas "old" is matter-of-fact. There is no politically correct BS in "old". It's straight and to the point.
Lennon McCartney was and will always be the best song writing team. Complete geniuses
Music Love I don’t know, man. I’m pretty keen on Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.
@@michaelgardberg sorry but no way, they have like 1 or 2 hit n1, lennon and mccartney they have, at least, more than 20 hits that reached n1 on Billboard Hot 100, without counting their iconic albums.
There is no way on this Earth they wrote 300 top songs with different variation of styles (not including no 1 hits for others) their own music with different bands and then Faul had The Frog Song, Mary Had A Little Lamb, C moon etc plus in this interview his body language and demeanor is all wrong .. That is why they didn't own their songs and there was writs all over the place for songs that were nicked.czcams.com/video/8pfJRTU6J1s/video.html
It hit me some time ago when you read other stories from session musicians like Billy Preston and session drummers that stood in for them as they really weren't that talented (Faul and Ringo) George and John could possibly write a tune whereas Faul can't read music and he states none of them did in interviews..he is acting the part and they were brought in to do exactly what happened from clean looking lads wearing Beatles suits to drug influenced songs and albums like Sgt Pepper all within a very short space of time.. I lost my sycophantic respect for these types a long time ago and it so obvious when you understand how the Music Industry works....imo
Who edited this? Why not just show the whole thing?
Good question
yeah
Agreed, horrible editing.
Copyright
That ended more abruptly, than Her Majesty.
Paul is one of the best singer-songwriters of all time that I admire so much. If only I get a chance to be coached by him, it would be the best ever that could happen in the whole world lol. Sir Paul, you're the man. I salute you...mwah.
Study at lipa
Such a cool atmosphere, no cameras going off, so calm. He should be doing more of these small sit downs
It's always good to hear Paul talk about this sort of thing, but the editing is terrible - the questions from the audience which are then cut off should be taken out.
Perhaps it is my love of history which gives me a desire for full primary sources but I prefer raw footage to someone else's opinion of what was relevant.
I learned more about how not to edit a video than I did about songwriting
Great wisdom. There's a reason songs that have Lennon/McCartney or McCartney/Lennon are regarded as some of the best of all time. These guys had a finger on the pulse of the world and knew how to bring that out of themselves. Regardless of theory or skill, because everyone has their opinion, they made some amazing tunes.
When you look at a beautiful flower and stop and wonder how it it come together so beautifully and so perfectly and so symmetrical and so captivating then I see John and Paul and realise that "someone" brought these two together. That's before you even smell the flower.
The absolute legend of legends! He is a treasure and is responsible for writing the song tracks of the world.
I could listen to Paul talk for hours ☺️
And Paul would be willing to talk for hours.
This kind of reminds me of my really reclusive friend who I love who constantly writes poems and sends them to me and I'll make small tweaks to sound like an actual song
put some music to it!
@@emotarist7862 Maybe hes learning to sing or they dont want the fame idk dont ask me
I hope these people never forget how fortunate they were to sit with Sir Paul in this intimate setting, and to get all of this advice and anecdotes.
The great tip meet to John
paul mc saying he doesnt know how to write a song....i know what hes saying or the point hes making but blimey...i guess u got it or not .and i agree there are no rules...just enjoy yourself and if others like it...thats lovely..music is so subjective and thats why its soooooooo brilliant,no right or wrong ..fantastic.x
I think the thing more illuminative about how he answers that question is when he says "it can happen any way" I think thats why he says he doesn't "know how to do it" because there's no step by step process he can distill and disseminate. The steps are either different or are in a different order each time.
Wow! what a great experienced you guys to be with the legend, Paul McCartney speaking about songwriting.
About the best interview I've seen of Paul
I find Paul McCartney much more important than a "Sir". Maybe it's just the American in me. Brilliant sharing no matter that he is a champion and most excellent.
The main thing I got from this video was everyone sucks when they're just starting.
The beginning of a beautiful friendship that grew into love w/all its ups & downs.
I could listen to him all day.
Thank You for providing this!
And the lovely young gal sitting with Sir Paul is a true beauty. No tattoos, piercings and studs. Just natural. How damn refreshing. ✌💎👒
John and Paul were simply genious.
The young lady next to Sir Paul looks just like a John Currin painting come to life. Absolutely beautiful.
This is a very accurate observation, by the way. I'm surprised that I seem to be the first to acknowledge it after a year.
I just love this man so much
They were definitely better together. Brilliance squared!
@Daniel Natal Good points. But certainly John and Paul didn't churn out 'garbage'. They both put out high quality solo efforts like Plastic Ono Band, Ram, Imagine, Band on the Run, Tug of War, Walls and Bridges...There were a few misfires, along the way, but the majority were up to snuff, in their prime. Imho. George and Ringo, too. Perhaps, to a lesser extent. Cheers.
This is fantastic!
I believe that song writing is basically writing poetry, then finding some music to follow it, All Beatle songs are poetry
Such a great, humble person.
Beautiful
Thank you for putting this masterclass up here on the psyché of how
The Beatles inner working of their créative genius
When the 2 would've been @ there earliest inclination of greatness songwriting & together. outstanding to have 1 great writer but 2 in the same band with their skills & how Paul says John was his foil to him & both working off each other is absolutely our bénéficie as the music they wrote & workedon privés timeless even now I can get in party to Beatles music
Yes, Paul. We know what you mean! She was lookin' sweet!
i always thought it was a bit noncey
Such a talented and generous man.
it is true ,that having each other as contrasting foils to each other, brought to the song a completeness.A lot of McCartney songs solo never had this and consequently never reached the level as in the Beatles. I don't know if anyone wanted to challenge Paul later with his songs. For what its worth.
They where probably all top 💯 in multible fields. Nowdays they would just level up in WOW and watch 8 sesons of GoT 3 times.
Ringo must be one of the most underrated drumer ever.
Alot of sirs and famous people out there do have a bit of an entiteled attitude to them but not paul as far as i see him hes basically the very same dude as he was before the fame and fortune and i think thats incredibly remarkable that hes remained humble self through all of it you know.
Nice clip from Paul McCharmley!
Made for each other at the correct time of musical creativity.
Great vid
But yes truley cool that he did this cool gig man...thanks nice thanks for the post
They are so lucky😄
In fact he didnt give any tip at all, you just have to have the lucky being born with the gift and having john lennon close helps a lot.
John and Paul meeting as they did was obviously destiny.
I'm convinced that McCartney wrote And I Love Her by paralleling an earlier Brian Hyland song called Sealed With A Kiss which would have been contemporary to their Hamburg days. It even used the same resolution trick.
5:26 "show me yours and I'll show you mine baby" 😆😆
Entire Interview Please!!!!!
Paul is right. There are no rules to songwriting. It has to come from within. However, his Father was a musician too which undoubtedly helped Paul’s musical influences as a boy. Naturally, it’s no guarantee of success though.
Paul is the coolest cat alive.
Even on his deathbed Paul would be hugely entertaining and with his last breath he would communicate more wisdom, humour and interest than the vast majority of todays celebs 🐧
I would think Paul could give us 100’s of other examples of collaborative sparkling moments but unfortunately the maestro holds back every time. And he has that right I guess. I just hope that there actually were 100’s of OTHER magic moments in those THREE HUNDRED sessions. Come Paul, give us more….you just haven’t given us enough! 😉👏💪✌️
The best of all
His dad done a great job 👏
This is not the first time Paul has appropriated other people's melodies. He always said he played the solo in Michelle and never mentioned that the solo was written by George Martin and the chorus was by John. Thus Michelle should be credited as Lennon-McCartney-Martin. By the way, Martin's solo became the most popular fragment of the song in arrangements for orchestras.
I like how Paul tries to explain Beatles songs as if we don’t already know what he’s talking about😂
“Well, I was writing this song called I Saw Her Standing There, an early Beatles song...you may not have heard it. It goes like...”
Paul was an optimist, John was a pessimist. They were two different sides of the same coin. Both of their personalities came through their music. There will never be another Beatles.
I wonder how he feels knowing he'll go down in history as one of the great composers. Up there with Bach, Mozart.....
Lily Cole is a model of skill and ability as a host/interviewer....................
No doubt!
He's done more with Three Chords than any other human.
They were put together by god.
Nice job
His tip. If you're always an optimistic person, find a pessimistic person, and vice versa.
You can give all the tips you want, and individuals can work on their craft, but there are certain people (like McCartney) who just got it. They have that certain magic that can’t be developed.
Lol, talking bloke to bloke back then, at that age, you knew exactly what "you know what I mean" meant... Lennon McCartney lyrics were freakin brilliant, let alone the music that went with it.
You either have it or you dont and paul McCartney had it but as he got older I believe he had written so many hits it was extremely hard for him to top them and plus when he toured and played live most fans who paid big bucks to see him didnt want to hear new songs they wanted the hits!
It sweet!
Yeah it was truley magic that they found each other I know I been searching for a band an so many people are wrapped in an are doing their own thing some times they are mostly not listening to u like Paul said oh wrote some songs hows school going huh....ah
King
I'm glad he addressed "you know what I mean". I never knew what he meant. Now I know it's just a filler line. I still don't understand the line "We're doing what we can" from their song Revolution. It's like the line "now we all did what we could do" from the song sweet home Alabama. Those lines seem so empty
The lyric is, 'we're all doing what we can'. John was referring to the anti war movement. Vietnam was raging, when he wrote it. And whether it was a song, a protest, a 'contribution', etc, we were all doing what we can. Cheers.
Is the editing of this footage a tribute to George Martins throwing the tapes into the air and piecing them together at random as he recorded Being for the benefit of Mr Kite? Cept it worked on that occasion.
Interesting!
@1:25mins we got to thank Ivan for that.
The organisers of this event should have mics for the Q&A sessions if they had the intention of posting it in internet
❤❤❤❤
Paul:" listen carefully I'll
give you some tips you know".Everybody else :"daaaaaaa hummmmmmm"
That's why The Beatles were very different compared to their solo careers
I don't know how to do it either, but I do it all the time
We all need to give a salute to Mr. Ivan Vaughan.
McCartney is right about collaboration.
Anyone can write songs, especially with a friend. Like Chris Rock said "2 people can move a couch, no problem..." while talking about relationships.
John and Paul turned each other on and wrote songs to each other in forms of conversations. It's not hard if you listened to as much music as they did, and practiced as much as they did. Even the songs they covered in the Cavern wouldn't blow you away, but they didn't half-ass hang-out with their friends, they loved making things especially together.
You should want that in a partner, that's why John started a band with Yoko, and Paul with Linda (even he stressed to her how simple music theory is).
You just have to be able to think of the group rather than yourself
the thing people dont often say about paul is that he is a genius
i don't mean hes a musical genius, people have been saying that forever,
i mean hes a regular high IQ genius
he was at the institute in liverpool BECAUSE he was a genius
it was an elite school, george went there too, same reason
the beatles where guys who possessed high IQs
Liverpool institute?
I love Paul. May God bless you and provide you the gift of salvation from our Lord Jesus.
Then tell the world, ok :)
Mike