Few, if any, pop stars have had a career likePaul McCartneyhas. His time with the Beatles, of course, needs no introduction, but it’s a remarkably small part of his time inmusic. After the group broke up, he began a solo career that continues more than 50 years later (we’re counting Wings as part of that solo career for various reasons). Those decades included ups and downs, and an unprecedented run of incredible music during his later years.
Jumping into such a discography might be intimidating, but McCartney’s career can be sectioned into various eras, with key moments illustrating both his peaks and his general approach at the time. Considered this way, it’s possible to uncover 10 tracks that define Paul McCartney’s solo career, both providing a primer to his work and giving a sense of how strong his art has remained for so many years.
10Maybe I’m Amazed
1970
McCartney began writing “Maybe I’m Amazed,” perhaps his most definitive solo song, as the Beatles were breaking up, in tribute to his wife Linda for helping him through a difficult time. It appeared on his self-titled album and received attention, but fans weren’t really ready for solo Beatles material, and the album received mixed reviews. It finally got released as a single and charted in 1977, when the version fromWings Over Americacame out.
Either version sounds like quintessential McCartney. On the surface, it feels like a simple love song, but McCartney’s writing does an excellent job of highlighting the tension in the moment. He’s confused but appreciative; struggling, but making his way through.McCartney’s so frequently written about the transcendental power of love, and here he grounds it in trial, with optimism but not naïveté. Fans should have both versions, the more straightforward solo recording of the more dynamic but slower Wings rendition.
9Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
1971
“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” was released as a single off Paul and Linda McCartney’sRam. This album received negative reviews at the time, mostly unfairly in retrospect, and this song stood as a bit of a curiosity. Given proper attention,it turns out to be neither fluffy nor overworked, but one of McCartney’s best tracks of the era.
The song functions like a medley, an approach the Beatles had perfected onAbbey Road. Here, it’s McCartney’s own inventiveness carrying the day, and each segment feels distinctly like his work. The medley fits the restlessness of the song. McCartney’s not sure how to relate to the previous generation - whether to apologize for being uncharitable or to resist its authority - but settles on reaching across the water (the Atlantic Ocean, in his relationship with Linda) in an act that finds the value of connection even within the excitement of a nomadic life.
8Band On The Run
1973
Until 1973, McCartney’s solo career felt erratic, including occasional hits like “My Love,” but mostly a string of okay albums with mixed reviews. WithBand On The Run, that changed. The album’s debut single, “Jet,” got the attention even of those who’d dismissed McCartney’s solo work, and the title track went to #1, remaining one of the artist’s finest post-Beatles songs.
This cut, too, functions as a medley, but with a more coherent structure and clear theme than “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.” The song starts with dreamy longing, andincreases its energy as the singer realizes his desire for greater freedom. The song mixes a loose narrative sensibility with emotional content that resonates deeply. Being a McCartney track, each part of the suite is its own earworm. Listening to “Band On The Run” is like listening to five minutes of a greatest hits set, all in one sonic bundle.
7Temporary Secretary
1980
During the final stretch of Wings, McCartney holed up by himself and made one of the oddest albums of his career,McCartney II. Though not particularly inaccessible, and even charming, 40 years later, at the time, it was viewed as both too experimental with its synthesizers and artistically underwhelming. It’s an important moment in McCartney’s career, a transition to the next era, but alsoa demonstration of his ability to mix memorable memories with more avant-garde thinking.
The most notable track on the record, “Temporary Secretary,” uses futuristic electropop to guide its strange content. McCartney used an ARP sequencer to build a jittery loop. He then sings an atonal letter to a hiring agency to request the titular employee. He sounds a little deranged and certainly unsafe, but it’s a comic send-up. It’s hard to know what to do with the song, except to enjoy it, and to consider how multifaceted McCartney’s work would really prove to be.
6Tug Of War
1982
The first few years of the ’80s included a series of significant moments for McCartney, notably the ending of Wings and the murder of John Lennon. McCartney’s return to the studio was important in its own way.Tug Of War- featuring work from George Martin, Ringo Starr, Stevie Wonder, and Wings members Linda McCartney and Denny Laine - turned out to be one of the best of McCartney’s career.
While the Stevie Wonder collaboration “Ebony And Ivory” was more successful and is better remembered, another single from the album, its title track, deserves attention. McCartney’s look at the tensions that inform all relationships is moving in its sweeping arrangement. His hope for better times and easier connections gives the song a brightness.Its release after Lennon’s death gave it a particular resonance, but the song connects in any setting.
5My Brave Face
1989
McCartney’s next best album of the 1980s would beFlowers In The Dirt. After the unevenPress To Play, he teamed up with Elvis Costello for a few songs, including lead single “My Brave Face.” The work seemed to have invigorated McCartney, sparking a creative return after an uneven decade.
Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello also co-wrote “Veronica,” one of the latter’s greatest songs and his best-charting single in the US.
The songsounds more like the Beatles than anything McCartney had done in some time (he even plays the old Hofner bass on it), but the production sounds fresh. The song comes from the perspective of a recently divorced man doing his best with his new life, but gradually admitting that he’s not in top shape. He’s breaking down, and wants to give up “living a lie” that things are going okay. The brightness juxtaposed against the sad story might show Costello’s hand, but the vocals and arrangements are pure McCartney.
4The World Tonight
1997
After that release, McCartney slowed his pace for the ’90s, working onThe Beatles Anthology, but releasing only two albums of original material, the fineOff The Groundand the high pointFlaming Pie, his best release in 15 years. The tracks would get a single release in the UK, but only the best of these, “The World Tonight”, would cross the Atlantic.
“The World Tonight” capturesthe feeling of being pursued by the paparazzi, of always being in the public eye. McCartney has been one of the world’s most recognizable musicians for most of his life, and he nailed his thoughts on fame with this rocker. It’s got some clever and almost surreal language in it, like “I go back so far, I’m in front of me,” making for a fun and catchy take on a frustrating subject.
3Jenny Wren
2005
McCartney continued his strong creative run withChaos And Creation In The Backyard. In some ways, it was his least collaborative affair in years, but working with producer Nigel Godrich and just the right guests gave the album an innovative feel that somehow heightened its intimacy. The best of these songs, “Jenny Wren,“takes McCartney back (almost) to his most straightforward work.
The Charles Dickens novelOur Mutual Friendwas one of the inspirations for the track. A key character in the novel goes by the name Jenny Wren and impressively overcomes various challenges.
The cut begins with just Paul and his acoustic guitar, which, along with the song’s title, reaches back toward “Blackbird,” and the two aren’t disconnected. McCartney sings of a woman who has stopped singing in a broken world, but he maintains faith that one day all will be repaired. The extremely unlikely appearance of a duduk solo heightens the meditative otherworldliness of the track. It’s quintessentially McCartney while standing out in his catalog.
2New
2013
For 2013’sNew, Paul worked with a variety of producers, creating a varied and energetic album, full of classic McCartney optimism. He brought in Mark Ronson for the title track.That lead single proved to be the best on the album, capturing the past while looking forward with a true earwom.
The song feels like a classic Beatles melody, and McCartney gives himself over to it. Ronson’s production, meanwhile, updates his sound, giving it a contemporary pop aesthetic. The music suits the lyrics, which are primarily an ode to McCartney’s new wife, Nancy Shivell, and the excitement of beginning a new era. It’s pure summer breeze, an accessible and memorable tune that’s as infectious as it is joyful.
1Come On To Me
2018
A few years later, McCartney continued his resurgence withEgypt Station, his first album in over three decades to reach #1 on the US charts. Two early tracks, the easygoing “I Don’t Know” and the rocker “Come On To Me,” gave fans a preview, suggesting a diverse record, but yet another with strong songwriting.
“Come On To Me” sounds like Paul, but not like something you’d expect from someone in his mid-70s.It’s rowdy and lusty, a throwback to youthful parties and seduction, but it doesn’t feel out of place or nostalgic. It’s just another classic song from one of the greats. At this point,Paul McCartneywas nearly 50 years into just his solo career, and still putting out vital, memorable music. Just a couple of years later, he’d follow it up with the stellarMcCartney III, suggesting he must have a limitless supply of both energy and songs.
