{"id":6892,"date":"2017-02-21T16:46:20","date_gmt":"2017-02-21T21:46:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=6892"},"modified":"2017-02-21T16:46:20","modified_gmt":"2017-02-21T21:46:20","slug":"paul-mccartney-into-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/paul-mccartney-into-his-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Paul McCartney: Into His Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we continue looking at Side Two of Revolver, we thought it might be fun to compare and contrast two of Paul\u2019s love songs\u2026we\u2019d love to hear from you about the similarities and differences you perceive!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Revolver<\/span><\/i> is a Paul-centric LP. No doubt about it. It is the first of The Beatles\u2019 LPs in which Sir Macca (and not the former \u201cLeader Beatle,\u201d John Lennon) dominates, \u00a0singing, and thus having composed, six of the 14 tracks. (Really, seven, if you count his predominate influence on \u201cYellow Submarine\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John Lennon was the real-life \u201cAncient Mariner.\u201d Like Coleridge\u2019s weathered protagonist, Lennon always grabbed you by the elbow, and began to tell you his tragic life\u2019s story. In \u201cI\u2019ll Cry Instead,\u201d his BBC cover of Smokey Robinson\u2019s \u201cYou Really Got A Hold On Me\u201d (to which John adds the telling word, \u201cMother\u201d), \u201cIf I Fell\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m A Loser,\u201d John is consistently bemoaning about Julia\u2019s absence in his life and his consuming heartbreak over her loss\u2026or perhaps, as he sees it, his inability to keep her.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cBeatle Paul\u201d is just as thematically consistent. From early on, he composes songs about his struggling (and later, failing) relationship with Jane Asher. On Side One of <\/span>Beatles For Sale<\/span><\/i>, he reminds Jane in \u201cI\u2019ll Follow the Sun\u201d that:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, you\u2019ll look to see I\u2019m gone,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

But tomorrow may rain, so I\u2019ll follow the sun.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

One day, you\u2019ll know I was the one,<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

But tomorrow may rain, so I\u2019ll follow the sun.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And now the time has come, <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And so my love, I must go\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And though I lose a friend, in the end you will know\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Then, on Side Two of <\/span>Beatles for Sale<\/span><\/i>, he tries a tougher tack, saying in \u201cWhat You\u2019re Doing\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou got me running\u2026and there\u2019s <\/span>no fun in it\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Why would it be so much <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To ask of you what you\u2019re doin\u2019 to me!?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Over and over, in \u201cWe Can Work it Out,\u201d \u201cYou Won\u2019t See Me,\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m Looking Through You,\u201d Paul sings to Jane Asher of his frustration, of \u00a0his need for her to \u201cbe there\u201d for him. In fact, our Fest Blog examined that theme earlier this year when we studied the lovely \u201cHere, There, and Everywhere.<\/a>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, here on <\/span>Revolver<\/span><\/i>\u2019s Side Two, Paul speaks to Jane again, first in the uplifting \u201cGood Day Sunshine\u201d where he praises her for being with him on a sunny day, and then in the dark and poignant ballad, \u201cFor No One\u201d and finally, in the brass-accompanied riot that is \u201cGot to Get You Into My Life.\u201d All three Side Two songs express Paul\u2019s longing, in meter and verse, for his lady.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cGot to Get You Into My Life\u201d \u2013 though admittedly a double <\/span>entendre<\/span><\/i> \u2013 a crafty nod to Paul\u2019s use of marijuana \u2013 is in a basic, literal sense his <\/span>mission statement<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, suddenly, I see you!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Did I tell you I need you?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Every single day of my life!\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Song after song, ballad after ballad, Paul has been telling Jane (and hence, all of us) one thing: <\/span>\u201cGot to get you into my life.\u201d<\/b> And, the fact that Jane has justifiably resisted and sought her own very successful theatrical career has only inspired Paul to continue penning attention-getting poems set to music for her.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By 1966, however, it has become fairly obvious to them both that the relationship isn\u2019t working. In fact, when Paul begs her to come home, \u201cshe takes her time and doesn\u2019t feel she has to hurry\u2026she no longer needs him.\u201d \u00a0They\u2019re at irreconcilable odds, really. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Perhaps, a clue to their unresolved issues is to be found in the way in which \u201cFor No One\u201d was recorded. Because the entire song is Paul and only Paul. George and John are not needed. Ringo will play percussion\u2026but Paul alone \u2013 the center of attention \u2013 will sing and perform his composition on the Steinway grand. Perhaps that is why for Jane Asher:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 in her eyes, you see nothing,<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>No sign of love behind the tears<\/span><\/i>
\n<\/span><\/i>Cried for no one\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

A love that should have lasted years.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With the wrong instruments, \u201cFor No One\u201d could have come off as \u201cwhiny and cheesy.\u201d Instead, the composition (with the phenomenal clavichord work of Sir George Martin and the breath-taking French horn touches of Alan Civil) is elegant and deeply tragic on several levels. Because not only are Paul and Jane falling apart, but The Beatles are beginning to unravel as well. \u00a0When we hear those last words: \u201cThere will be times when all the things [they] said will fill your head. You won\u2019t forget [them],\u201d we somehow flash to the eroding friendship between John, Paul, George, and Ringo. We sigh.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And so, in the guise of his former, chipper self, Paul makes one last attempt on <\/span>Revolver<\/span><\/i> to woo Jane back again. Not discounting the very popular \u201cmarijuana theory\u201d (which certainly exists on one level), in \u201cGot to Get You Into My Life,\u201d Paul expresses undiminished determination to get Jane into his life. He jauntily and emphatically speaks to her in hopes that the visions prevalent in \u201cFor No One\u201d will never come to be. McCartney sings:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can I do, what can I be?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When I\u2019m with you, I want to stay there!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

And you know I\u2019ll never leave\u2026and if I do,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I know the way there!\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here interestingly, Paul speaks his soul to Jane in an ear-catching new way, via a SOUL song! As Dr. Kit O\u2019Toole, author of <\/span>Songs We Were Singing: Guided Tours Through The Beatles Lesser Known Tracks<\/span><\/i> has stated:<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe horns [in \u201cGot to Get You Into My Life\u201d] were a remnant of the band’s original idea to record <\/i><\/b>Revolver<\/b> at Stax Records in Memphis. They had long emulated the bass and drum sounds found on American soul records, and they wanted to extend that. So they recruited guitarist Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG’s to produce <\/i><\/b>Revolver<\/b>, and they asked Brian Epstein to \u201cmake it happen.\u201d But all the Memphis studios wanted exorbitant fees to host The Beatles, so the boys ended up back in Abbey Road. <\/i><\/b>But the soul sound still intrigued them, so “Got to Get You into My Life” is their interpretation of the genre.<\/i><\/b>\u201d \u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cGot to Get You Into My Life\u201d is one of Paul\u2019s final attempts to catch Jane\u2019s ear and to express his soul\u2019s need for her lifelong companionship. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cYou want her, you need her\u2026<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

And yet you don\u2019t believe her<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

When she says her love is dead:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

You think she needs you.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both \u201cGot to Get You Into My Life\u201d and \u201cFor No One\u201d are the swan songs for a love that could not survive. However, on <\/span>15 May 1967,<\/span> when Paul met Linda Eastman in London\u2019s\u00a0Bag O\u2019Nails, his long-deferred dream became reality. He got <\/span>her <\/span><\/i>into his life, and in that moment, everything changed.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Jude Southerland Kessler is the author of the John Lennon Series:\u00a0www.johnlennonseries.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Jude is represented by 910 Public Relations —\u00a0@910PubRel<\/a>\u00a0on Twitter and\u00a0910 Public Relations<\/a>\u00a0on Facebook.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we continue looking at Side Two of Revolver, we thought it might be fun to compare and contrast two of Paul\u2019s love songs\u2026we\u2019d love to hear from you about the similarities and differences you perceive!   Revolver is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[98,111,117,30],"class_list":["post-6892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-jude-southerland-kessler","tag-revolver","tag-the-beatles","tag-the-fest-for-beatles-fans"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6892"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6897,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6892\/revisions\/6897"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}