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3.27pm
31 March 2008
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Anyway, here’s the article, feel free to comment here or there.
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5.22pm
19 September 2010
Offline Brilliant article as always, Joe.
The song has never appealed to me that much, but it’s fine. I also tend to prefer slower McCartney anyways, so that’s probably why.
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JoeAs if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
6.41pm
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29 August 2013
Offline mr. Sun king coming together said
Brilliant article as always, Joe.The song has never appealed to me that much, but it’s fine. I also tend to prefer slower McCartney anyways, so that’s probably why.
It was very popular down here and I have always liked it – it was a bit of a pleasant-sounding respite from the sad realities of the break-up.
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7.05pm
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1 May 2011
Offline My father had the ‘Wings Greatest’ cassette in his car, his only Paul solo album, and this was always my favourite track off it. After all these years its still one of my favourite Paul songs. Love the feel and sound of the song.
"I told you everything I could about me, Told you everything I could" ('Before Believing' - Emmylou Harris)
3.00am
31 March 2008
Offline Some random thoughts:
I don’t really care for the jaunty verses, but deeper into the song is where it gets much better IMO. It’s a fairly dark song lyrically, which is in contrast to much of the music (Lennon did something similar on Crippled Inside ).
I wonder why this was his first solo single. You’d think he would have put something out sooner, given the successes of his former bandmates.
Another Day is one of two solo songs in The Beatles Complete book of scores. The other is Give Peace A Chance , which was credited to Lennon-McCartney, but I never worked out why they added this one too.
Also, I had wondered on which song McCartney plays an acoustic 12-string in concert, as seen on the cover of Luca Perasi’s book. It seems that it might be Another Day . Are there any others?
Can buy me love! Please consider supporting the Beatles Bible on Amazon
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8.23am
10 August 2011
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Nice piece. I think McCartney played some 12-string in the Wings Over America tour; maybe Bluebird?
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9.10am
22 September 2014
Offline 1. I so admire Joe’s style, scholarly approach and attention to detail. It is always a pleasure to read his articles.
2. That song is so weird. Melancholy, almost maudlin lyrics with a bright, bouncy melody. Are we supposed to be happy or so sad, so sad?
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JoeI say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did'.
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9.38am
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20 August 2013
Offline I keep thinking about this song coming from the same mind that wrote a light-hearted-sounding song about a serial killer. Here we have the bright bouncy melody for a song about a woman who is so depressed she is either suicidal or on the verge of being suicidal.
Helter Skelter is a hard hitting/sounding song, but they built the lyrics around an amusement park ride. Got To Get You Into My Life is a bright sounding song about substances that can ruin lives and kill people. Same with Dr. Robert. Those songs seem so disjointed. So clashing. It seems like The Beatles didn’t want to put “heavy” lyrics with “heavy” sounds. I wonder why.
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12.49pm
6 August 2015
Offline I’ve wondered if this song was inspired by some of Linda’s stories about her experiences when she moved back to New York, after her divorce. The woman in the song is depressed, working a tedious job she doesn’t really like, and looking for a real, human connection. According to Danny Fields, Linda was depressed when she came back to New York, working a job she didn’t really like (at Town and Country) before she did photography full time and had some lovers, but the relationships were brief. Maybe Paul wrote the song because he was inspired and/or moved by Linda’s account of this time of her life, but its pure speculation on my part. Either way, kudos to Paul for writing a sympathetic song about a female that doesn’t objectify her: I’ve always thought that Paul’s tendency to write about females/from the female pov is a subject that needs more dicussion.
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meaigs3.31pm
15 May 2015
Offline The hard-core feminist would object to Paul’s lyrics because they make it seem like the woman’s whole life revolves around having a man, and if she can’t have one, or if every man “comes, and he stays, but leaves the next day”, then in response, she “feels so sad”. I.e., that a woman doesn’t need a man to be happy, etc. Personally, I think such feminists need to lighten up and get out more…
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29 August 2013
Offline “So clashing. It seems like The Beatles didn’t want to put “heavy” lyrics with “heavy” sounds. I wonder why.“
Didn’t want to – or thought it has more impact with the contradiction?
“The hard-core feminist would object to Paul’s lyrics because they make it seem like the woman’s whole life revolves around having a man“
I disagree completely. It’s about one lonely person and their day to day struggles. Lot’s of people’s happiness depends upon the presence of a partner and I think getting sidetracked with feminism or animal liberationism or vegetarianism or any other ‘ism’ is just going off-track.
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6.44pm
18 October 2013
Offline These were the heady days when we/I thought the Beatles sort of continued……..But had upped their output. 4 solo singles to one Beatles. It seemed like things were not going to be so bad. Another Day and Ram were great starts for Paul. I seem to remember buying Ram and it being the first time I used or saw in my change from the purchase a 50p piece……..I enjoyed every drop of Ram . A friend had an old mandolin and I worked the title track out on it.
I couldn’t afford to keep up with all the singles …Another Day ………John’s quick-fire releases, George’s and so on. But Another Day stood out for me and I’d always stop what i was doing and pay attention if it was on the radio.
It’s a light song, a charming song……..It’s Paulworthy.
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trcanberra6.54pm
22 September 2014
Offline trcanberra said
“The hard-core feminist would object to Paul’s lyrics because they make it seem like the woman’s whole life revolves around having a man“
I disagree completely. It’s about one lonely person and their day to day struggles. Lot’s of people’s happiness depends upon the presence of a partner and I think getting sidetracked with feminism or animal liberationism or vegetarianism or any other ‘ism’ is just going off-track.
I had the same reaction as trc to that post. Loneliness can be a crippling malady visited on anyone: man, woman or child. I am so grateful never to have really experienced it, but I can appreciate its debilitating effect as much as I dread being caught in a tight place where I can’t move my arms or legs.
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trcanberraI say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did'.
Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake, 1997
7.01pm
19 September 2010
Offline Pineapple Records said
The hard-core feminist would object to Paul’s lyrics because they make it seem like the woman’s whole life revolves around having a man, and if she can’t have one, or if every man “comes, and he stays, but leaves the next day”, then in response, she “feels so sad”. I.e., that a woman doesn’t need a man to be happy, etc. Personally, I think such feminists need to lighten up and get out more…
So, in this post, you’ve diminished the very real problems of loneliness and depression and attacked a straw man (hard-core feminists) for no reason. And, also, 5 minutes googling has led to literally no article or other online post attacking the song for its supposed sexism. So instead of assuming something that I cannot find any truth to, perhaps you should not cast baseless assertions in future.
As if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
8.42pm
15 May 2015
Offline The operative words in my post were “hard-core” (a relative term, not a scientific term, denoting extremists — or are people denying there are extremists in any -Ism movement?), and the word “would”, not “do” (the latter for which I would be obligated to provide evidence).
“A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” — Gloria Steinem. There’s definitely a wing of the Feminist movement that “goes there”, and some of them might very well (would) dislike the lyrics for their implication that a woman, any woman, would make her happiness depend on a man.
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WigwamA ginger sling with a pineapple heart,
a coffee dessert, yes you know it's good news...
8.49pm
19 September 2010
Offline But why say people would object when it’s easy to see if there are any objections? Why raise a hypothetical when it is easily checkable? Oh yeah, because you wanted to take a shot at hard core feminists.
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trcanberraAs if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
7.51am
10 August 2011
Offline @pickles “I’ve always thought that Paul’s tendency to write about females/from the female pov is a subject that needs more discussion.”
It IS interesting that from his early years he’s taken the time to look at things from women’s point of views. Love that topic and did a radio show on this:
http://www.mixcloud.com/pawlin…..nd-friends
(scroll down two thirds of the way to “Downtrodden women”)
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9.23am
6 August 2015
Offline Thank you! All those topics look interesting: I think my work productivity is going to plummet today …
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Ahhh Girl1.00pm
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14 April 2010
Offline mr. Sun king coming together said
Pineapple Records said
The hard-core feminist would object to Paul’s lyrics because they make it seem like the woman’s whole life revolves around having a man, and if she can’t have one, or if every man “comes, and he stays, but leaves the next day”, then in response, she “feels so sad”. I.e., that a woman doesn’t need a man to be happy, etc. Personally, I think such feminists need to lighten up and get out more…So, in this post, you’ve diminished the very real problems of loneliness and depression and attacked a straw man (hard-core feminists) for no reason. And, also, 5 minutes googling has led to literally no article or other online post attacking the song for its supposed sexism. So instead of assuming something that I cannot find any truth to, perhaps you should not cast baseless assertions in future.
Pineapple Records said
The operative words in my post were “hard-core” (a relative term, not a scientific term, denoting extremists — or are people denying there are extremists in any -Ism movement?), and the word “would”, not “do” (the latter for which I would be obligated to provide evidence).
“A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle” — Gloria Steinem. There’s definitely a wing of the Feminist movement that “goes there”, and some of them might very well (would) dislike the lyrics for their implication that a woman, any woman, would make her happiness depend on a man.
mr. Sun king coming together said
But why say people would object when it’s easy to see if there are any objections? Why raise a hypothetical when it is easily checkable? Oh yeah, because you wanted to take a shot at hard core feminists.
I’ve read and re-read the original quote from Pineapple Records and did not feel any shots were taken toward feminists, hard core or otherwise. Those of us who were actually alive at that time (that excludes you, mr. Sun king) will remember that, unfortunately, “a woman needing a man” was a common belief – misguided as it was. At the time this song was written/released Ms. Steinem, to whom PA refers, was the exception and not the mainstream. If that song was written/released today, I could easily see feminists objecting to such sentiments and uproar and furor would ensue. Back then, hardly an eyebrow would be raised.
So, whether it is a case of semantics or a case of not knowing what the culture was like back then, I believe both have been sufficiently addressed. Let’s move on.
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2.55pm
19 September 2010
Offline Zig said
So, whether it is a case of semantics or a case of not knowing what the culture was like back then, I believe both have been sufficiently addressed. Let’s move on.
So suggested, so agreed
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ZigAs if it matters how a man falls down.'
'When the fall's all that's left, it matters a great deal.
