Hosanna

‘Hosanna’ is the ninth song on Paul McCartney’s 16th solo studio album New.

The song was the first of four produced by Ethan Johns for the album.

I hooked up with Ethan Johns, the son of my friend Glyn Johns, who I had worked with on Beatles and Wings recordings. Ethan, a full bearded Glastonbury man, was easy to get along with and I got a feeling that his style suited my more acoustic songs. We went to Abbey Road Studios and fairly swiftly put down a take of ‘Hosanna’.

I brought him ‘Hosanna’ and I said, ‘I wrote this song.’ He said, ‘Why don’t you go in and sing it?’ So I did that and said, ‘Should I do it again? Should we fix it up?’ He said, ‘No, that’s beautiful the way you did it. I think that’s enough.’ I thought, ‘OK, this is the way he works: He’s gonna be very raw, he’s gonna want it to spill out, don’t think about it too much, just say it.’’