Wywiad z Macc± dla Big Issue
Noelka - So sty 02, 2010 6:55 pm
Hello Paul.
Hello. Now, have we met before?
I donāt think we have...
Donāt give me that! āI donāt think we haveā (laughs).
Iām sure I would have remembered.
Yeah (laughs). āI donāt think we haveā. I like it. Very coy.
So, what can the audience expect from the new tour?
Well, itās bringing home the show we did in America earlier this year. Thereāll be a couple of new numbers ā because Iāve got a few Beatles and Wings songs Iāve never done live. One guy asked if Iād be doing āKomm Gib Mir Deine Handā in Germany (laughs). Definitely not something Iāll be doing.
Are you looking forward to playing Hamburg again? Itās not quite the city of sin it was when you and The Beatles were there in the 60s.
I donāt really know how much it has changed. Itās been a long time. I was a Liverpool teenager then, with wide-open eyes. I imagine the Reeperbahn wonāt be too different ā a tourist strip club sort of area, but I wonāt be going down there this time. Having a new girlfriend, itād be more than my lifeās worth.
āA Day in the Lifeā is now part of the repertoire ā not something The Beatles ever performed live. Is it daunting to tackle?
Itās such a good song and I have enough reason to do it because I have vivid memories of writing it with John. He brought the first verse, and that made it his song, his inspiration. I remember we sat down in my music room in London and developed it into a second verse, and then āIād love to turn you onāā¦ and my little bit in the middle. Then came the orchestral cacophonyā¦
The musical orgasm?...
Well thank you very much but itās a bit early for that! Steady on! Anyway ā yes, that was kind of my idea. Iād been listening to a lot of avant-garde music and that was inspired by the composers I was going to see in London at the time.
Youāre playing āGive Peace a Chanceā now too. Does it feel a little strange to take on Johnās songs for the first time?
Itās something I never thought Iād do because John did his songs, I did mine. If Iāve done Beatles songs itās been ones I did the vocals on and did most of the writing on. I donāt really go with the co-written songs. So, āDrive My Carā ā pretty much my thing, as āNowhere Manā would have been Johnās. But it did occur to me one day ā why not? Itās always a bit refreshing to look at things differently.
You play Georgeās great classic āSomethingā on the ukulele. Is it difficult to revisit memories of him on-stage?
Itās very emotional to do these songs. Itās marking losing family, which is terrible. But at the same time itās great because in a way it puts me in touch with them. It focuses your emotions, so Iām thinking about them more than I might in an average day. Doing āHere Todayā (a 1982 song about John Lennon) is very emotional. The version the editors wanted to use in the live DVD is the one where I lose it and I get overwhelmed. If Iād been 18 I wouldnāt have let them use that ā Iād have been too ashamed, as a young guy, to be seen crying. But that stuff doesnāt matter anymore.
There seems to be a blend of all ages at your gigs.
Yeah, more than ever. Parents often say to me, āMy kids really love The Beatles ā so weāve got something in commonā. I like the idea that instead of people being alienated by each otherās music, thereās something that brings them together. The music has become like a multi-generational glue. It is really cool. The Beatles story continues to shine. I often say, Churchillās papers get older and crinklier but our music gets clearer and clearer. With the remastering, youāve never heard them so good.
Are your kids and grandkids Beatles fans?
Yeah, absolutely. My youngest is only six and sheās only just getting into it. Itās really cute to see the youngest ones awakening to it.
Why is The Beatlesā appeal universal? What makes the music survive changing trends?
I think itās something to do with the structural quality of the songs. We werenāt actually trying to make stuff that was cool or of the moment, although a lot of it was. We were trying to make stuff that was good enough to stick around, and lo and behold it has. Itās a finished body of work, and for me it contains a million memories.
You and the other Beatles have astronomical objects named after you (4148 McCartney is a small planet in the main asteroid belt). Your songs are among the most covered of all time. It must be hard not to be overwhelmed by the incredible legacy.
Yeah, I know what you mean. Thereās a safety valve you have to develop. I think in terms of ā him, and me. Heās the guy with the star named after him. You kind of separate your public self from your private self. Sometimes some people are not able to do that, and they start to believe their own myth. I donāt let myself get taken in by it. Iām pleased and honoured and amazed by it all.
But when I go home I donāt go (sings in a jaunty tone) āIām the guy with the star named after himā. I still think of myself as the guy who rode the buses in Liverpool, which leaves me a sense of wonder about the whole thing.
At the end of the ā60s John described The Beatles as ā¶only a rock groupā. Would he have celebrated how revered the band has become?
There was that one very cynical period [after the break-up], but he actually got over that once he got to New York. I was very lucky really because we got our relationship back together. Once he died, tragicallyā¦ God I was so glad that we had managed to do that. It would have been the worst if weād still been enemies when that happened. It would have haunted me.
I tell you man, he wasnāt cynical. We used to talk about baking bread. He got very domesticated actually. Particularly after Sean was born, he was looking after the baby and loving it. His writing wasnāt cynical. If you think about the Double Fantasy album, with āWomanā and āBeautiful Boyā ā it was very domestic, very real and loving. Thatās actually harder than cynicism. Cynicism is a cheap shot. John had a very soft heart but like all of us, you get wounded, and you have to cover it up because you feel too exposed and vulnerable. He had his times when he had to do that.
There are loads of things heād have been having a laugh about. Heād have been quite tickled, Iām sure, about being in a video game. Like me, heād have been rubbish at it.
Have you played The Beatles: Rock Band game much?
Every time I pick up a facsimile of a Hofner bass, I try to play bass. Itās no good for me trying to hit red or green buttons. I canāt relate to that. But itās good fun and the kids cream me on it.
Are you a fan of The X Factor?
I donāt know about being a fan. I actually donāt watch it that much but everyone else does, so if itās on and Iām in the room then Iāll watch it. Itās a helluva big show. No denying that. Yāknow, itās like, 20 million people canāt all be wrong. I see the attraction.
My grandkids will watch it and I see it through their eyes. You talk to people in the street and theyāll say, āOoh, what dāyou think about Jedward?ā I go, āWell itās a laugh, isnāt it?ā Bless āem. Theyāre a couple of young hopeful kids trying to make a buck. It has brought through some very good people. Leona Lewis is a serious talent.
Are there any bands or acts youād like to work with now?
I liked the idea of working with Take That. It was great fun to do that [at the Children in Need concert at The Royal Albert Hall, pictured left]. It was a great cause. Gary did the honour of asking me to finish the show. I was chuffed because heās a good guy. The most intriguing one is Bob Dylan.
Heās spoken of me very kindly in a couple of interviews and Iām a massive fan of his. But I still canāt get up the nerve to ring him. Yāknow, itās Bob Dylan man! Heās a great guy and Iāve known him over the years. So if anything kind ofā¦ organically happened, or I suddenly got the courage to ring him, then that would certainly be an intriguing prospect. Iām a great admirer of his and I think heās a great poet. It would be interesting.
A lot of people comment on what great shape youāre in. How long can you keep touring and recording at this kind of pace?
As long as the drugs hold out. The drugs and the Zimmer frame! Yāknow, Iām now doing five times more work than The Beatles did (live). We used to do half an hour in concert. I donāt want to tempt fate, but I find it easy to play. Some of the American girls I know say to me, (in a high-pitched American accent) āYou donāt even take a drink of water!ā Well, nobody ever did that where I was from. Nobody drank water on stage. Iām old school.
Thereās no plan to give it all up and paint in a cottage somewhere? Do you still have the place in Kintyre?
Yeah. Iād never give that up. Itās a great place. I love it there. But itās not a retirement cottage. My idea is that you keep working. A lot of people want to get the hell out of the factory and retire. But Iām doing my hobby, so I donāt want to give it up. Iām mean, Iām going off now and Iāll pick up the electric guitar and play some rock and roll. I still feel the same thrill I used to feel. Iām allowed to play this really cool guitar through a brilliant amp and turn it up as loud as I like. I still love it, and it still seems like a privilege.
macho - Wt sty 05, 2010 10:34 am
Strasznie siź zakrźci³em podczas czytania tego wywiadu, bo przez chwile my¶la³em, æe pytania o now± trasź dotycz± tej planowanej na rok 2010
Bardzo podoba mi siź to, æe Paul znów wspomina o wspó³pracy z Bobem Dylanem. W po³owie ubieg³ego roku pojawi³y siź spekulacje na temat wspólnego nagrywania obydwu muzyków. Stwierdzili wtedy, æe chcieli by pracowaę w odosobnieniu i prawdopodobnie najlepszym rozwi±zaniem mia³ byę dom McCartneya w Kalifornii. Mieli siź spotkaę minionego lata... ale sprawa jako¶ ucich³a. Pó¼niej co prawda pojawi³y siź pog³oski, æe to prasa wymy¶li³a ca³a t± historiź, ale nie za bardzo w to wierzź. Zw³aszcza, æe czźsto Paul wypowiada³ siź na temat chźci wspó³pracy z Dylanem.
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macho
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