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[BlueMeanie]

...Paul McCartney's lyrics!

A lot has been said about the quality (or not) of his lyrics over the years, but my iPod threw out a couple of little gems the other day. Penny Lane, and Back In The U.S.S.R. Cracking lyrics, I think, and not the only ones.

So are Paul's lyrics bad, or is it just that he's so prolific that he's bound to throw out some crap at times? I think that people conveniently forget that some of John's and George's lyrics could also be less than inspiring at times.

[JimmyMcCullochFan]

Paul's best lyrics in my opinion are his love songs. Maybe I'm Amazed, My Love, Love In Song etc

[Geoff]

So are Paul's lyrics bad, or is it just that he's so prolific that he's bound to throw out some crap at times?

I think he starts with the tune or a sound and worries about the lyrics later. Some of the lyrics on his solo albums sound like first thought make-it-up-as-you-go ideas that he threw in while he was working out the song and never got around to changing (or changing enough) later. The original working lyrics for "Yesterday" famously began as "Scrambled Egg / Oh my baby how I love your legs," and that sort of thing, which would have been changed in anticipation of having John looking at him in the studio during the sixties, often got left in after he went solo. Linda could provoke him, though: I'd add "Tomorrow" and "Letting Go" to JMF's list.

[DaveRam]

Paul's lyrics range from the good to the whimsical to the downright dodgy and laughable .
I've always looked forward to his erratic wordplay , i think he's quite good at rhyming couplets , the Wings stuff as some good examples of that Junior's Farm and Band On The Run inparticular .
The later solo material as seen a much more tidy approach to lyric writing C&C and MAF are very strong lyrically i think ?
Ram /McCartney ll /Electric Arguments are great whimsical albums , i love  this style of writing on these records it's messy and i would imagine not easy  to do .
The bulk of his solo albums are patchy on the lyric front , "House Of Wax" is his best lyric as a solo artist ?

[Geoff]

The later solo material as seen a much more tidy approach to lyric writing C&C and MAF are very strong lyrically i think ?

I agree: I think he's generally been a lot more careful with his lyrics since Flowers In The Dirt.

Ram /McCartney ll /Electric Arguments are great whimsical albums , i love  this style of writing on these records it's messy and i would imagine not easy  to do .

Electric Arguments reminds me of impressionism for some reason (can't be the cover, though  ). The casualness of the lyrics match the texture and "feel" of the music, if that makes any sense. I thinks it's one of his three or four best solo records.

[DaveRam]

I agree: I think he's generally been a lot more careful with his lyrics since Flowers In The Dirt.



Electric Arguments reminds me of impressionism for some reason (can't be the cover, though  ). The casualness of the lyrics match the texture and "feel" of the music, if that makes any sense. I thinks it's one of his three or four best solo records.

Agree Geoff Electric Arguments is like impressionist painting , he's used great color throughout the album , it's in my top 3 also .

(thumbsup)

[mr vandebilt]

Paul's lyrics range from the good to the whimsical to the downright dodgy and laughable .
I've always looked forward to his erratic wordplay , i think he's quite good at rhyming couplets , the Wings stuff as some good examples of that Junior's Farm and Band On The Run inparticular .



Juniors Farm is awful, every time i listen to the song the lyrics make me cringe.