Paul McCartney On Triple J: The Songs That Shaped His Iconic Career

There's few people that command the same level of respect as Sir Paul McCartney. 

From The Beatles, to Wings, to his extensive solo work, McCartney has had a career ten times larger than most could ever even dream or hope for.

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This morning, triple j's Zan Rowe shared a very special version of her Take 5 segment. Backstage with McCartney prior to his Melbourne show, he chose five songs from his extensive career and shared their inspiration and influence.

Here's what we loved from the show… 

The five songs he chose for Take 5

The Beatles -  Yesterday

"The song Yesterday I just happened to dream a tune," explains McCartney, before sharing that the lyrics eventually came to him months later during a long and boring car trip.

The Beatles - Blackbird

McCartney described Blackbird as his "civil rights song". 

"I'd just heard about the civil rights stuff going on in America, at Little Rock." "We didn’t have that kind of prejudice in Liverpool." "When we saw it, we were all pretty shocked."

Wings - Band On The Run

"You go with fashions sometimes, you can’t help it… At that time, there was a lot of songs about desperados…"

"I thought it might be nice to write a song about a prison break… You could use it as symbolism."

"I think it was kind of an American thing really that I got caught up in."

Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary 

"I think the main thing is either guitar or piano really, but it is nice when you get a new instrument. It can give you a new idea." 

"It's nice when something like that is ahead of its time. At the time, it's too ahead of its time and a lot of people don’t like it."

The Beatles - Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End

"I didn’t think of it as the end of the Beatles, I thought of thought of it mainly as the end of an album."

"I don’t analyse my stuff, but if I was to that would be a good one to analyse."

On songwriting

"It basically just starts with just noodling around…"

"But normally if you’re lucky it just comes all at once."

"I wouldn’t have described it as a rivalry." – on writing songs with John Lennon.

"It was kind of competitive I suppose, because if I wrote something he would try to better it, and then I would try to better it."

"After that when I was writing on my own, it was a little more difficult because I was on my own and didn’t have John just to finish the next line."

On recording with Wings in Lagos

"I got held up at knifepoint." - on losing their original demos during a mugging.

"My theory is they probably recorded over it."

"It was quite hairy getting held up one dark night in Lagos."

"I thought they were offering me a lift… It became clear they weren’t offering us a lift."

"It was at a time where people were getting fed up with going into the same ol’ studio in London."

on recording music by himself

"It’s like a hobby. It’s like you’re just doing it as a bit of fun."

"It just gives you a certain type of freedom."

on working with Kayne West

"It’s a completely different thing. It’s the same thrill though because it’s something new."

"I was sitting around with Kayne for a couple of days and I didn’t think we’d written a song." - on their collaboration, FourFiveSeconds.

"It was months later when I got the track in the post and it was FourFiveSeconds and it was Rihanna singing it."

"I had to call up and say 'am I on this?'" - on not being able to recognise his own part in the song.

"That’s the thrill of it. That’s what makes it fun. It’s not the normal way I work."

On still working in music

"It was either that or quit." - on making Wings successful post-Beatles

"I realised I liked music too much and if I quit, I’d still be doing it as a hobby."

"It was a huge relief because along the way it was like ‘is this going to work?’" - on Wings teething period

"You could form a supergroup, you’ve got enough cool friends." – on making life difficult with himself on forming Wings and starting over

"I think it’s just the fact that there's no alternative in your mind." – on keeping going through self-doubt

"I think the problem is I love it too much. It’s sort of in my soul." – at the idea of not working in music anymore

"It’s not as though I’ve not written enough." – on not being able to stop writing even on days off

Paul McCartney is currently touring around the country, head to theGuide for more info.