Paul McCartney was—and I use the past tense—one of the two greatest songwriters of the era that comprised the apogee of pop music. (The other was John Lennon; I’m excluding Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell as were folkier). Sadly, he’s still making music, and, save for George Harrison, each of the Beatles immediately lost their touch after they went solo.
Here’s a McCartney song touted in the NYT as the “What’s New” in music we should pay attention to. It’s from a new album he’s releasing in May. Their blurb:
Paul McCartney, ‘Days We Left Behind”
“The Boys of Dungeon Lane,” to be released May 29, will be Paul McCartney’s first solo album since 2020; it’s named after a Liverpool street in the neighborhood where he grew up. In “Days We Left Behind,” a cozy ballad carried by acoustic guitar and piano, he sings about places and memories as both fragile and lasting; he mentions Forthlin Road, the street where he lived and wrote early songs with John Lennon. “Nothing stays the same,” he muses, but he also insists, “No one can erase the days we left behind.” His voice is shakier than it once was, only making things more poignant.
Listen for yourself. Yes, his voice is shaky, a mere shadow of his voice from the Sixties. Worse, the song is lame in both melody and lyrics, though the melody is worse than the lyrics, which are at least tolerable (I give them below).
I realize that Macca was made to create music, and probably can’t stop doing it. And this song is still better than a lot of the dreck that passes for pop/rock music these days, but compared to the earlier McCartney, well, it’s sad. If you leave the video on, you’ll see a horrific AI-generated video in which all four Beatles are stuck in.
Lyrics:
Looking back at white and black
Reminders of my past
Smoky bars and cheap guitars
But nothing built to lastNothing ever stays
Nothing comes to mind
No one can erase
The days we left behindSee the boys of Dungeon Lane
Along the Mersey shore
Some of them will feel the pain
But some were meant for moreAnd nothing stays the same
No one needs to cry
Nothing can reclaim
The days we left behindWe met at Forthlin Road
And wrote a secret code
To never be spoken
I stand by what I said
The promise that I made
Will never be brokenNothing ever stays
Nothing comes to mind
And no one can erase
The days we left behindIn the skies the skylarks rise
Above the sounds of war
Since that day I knew they’d stay
With me for evermore’Cause nothing stays the same
And no one needs to cry
And no one is to blame
For the days we left behind
The days we left behind
Hmm, I think it’s an ok song, and I think it’s appropriate that, at this point in his remarkable life, he lay down quiet, introspective, and acoustic tracks such as this.
Regarding George, I feel that when he ran out of Beatles songs (almost all of them appeared on All Things Must Pass) his songcraft and arranging skills plummeted precipitously. His output improved starting with his ’79 LP, but it took Jeff Lynne to really bang him back into shape.
But I’ll always love all four of them, of course!
I agree, the context of his career means evaluating the song a little differently than if Joe Schmoe from the backwoods just uploaded it.
I saw a Joe Rogan clip where Rick Beato demonstrates how quickly AI can create a fictional artist, then create the lyrics, music, and singing, which sounds quite good. I’m curious what the AI would come up with if asked to create an undiscovered Beatles song.
A worthy experiment.
Even demigods get old. He’s done so much, let him play, no harm done even if the miracles are no more. We’ll love him forever listening to the masterpieces of the past
Sorry, but are you chastzing me for giving my opinion? Let him play? I am not stopping him from playing, but I sure have the right to give my views.
I like it, and I am impressed he can still put stuff out there.
Post-Beatles, all 4 did good music, music that will last forever, but the secret sauce that they had as a group was that they pushed each other to make the greatest pop music ever.
Could you mentioon, say, seven or eight songs written and performed by Ringo that will last forever? I am curious.
I could not think of eight songs he’s written that will stand the test of time. But for some, it really seems that Ringo’s charm and loveability outweigh his songwriting prowess.
Thanks for calling my attention to it! I had no idea Paul had a new album coming out. I looked it up on iTunes and listened as pure audio with good headphones instead of watching that video, and I like it. It’s a little somber and nostalgic, not as upbeat and transformational as Paul in his prime with the Beatles (which is a very high bar), or as replayable as his better Wings songs, and you can definitely hear his advanced age in his voice. But few popular music artists are able to keep creating at even this level into their 80s. I’d put it in the top 10% or so of popular music coming out today.
Abysmal? Even what you described is far from that. Reflective and elegant would be a better description. I would prefer to hear it in the context of a whole album and I’d be interested how you feel once you’ve heard it in that context. Also trying to find a comparison between this and She Loves You considering all the time that’s passed seems pointless. For some of us older fans it’s still Paul guiding us into the next phase of life and in a way most of us can’t do.
Reflective and elegant? This son is far from that. And I did not compare it to She Loves You, did I? Of course this is a matter of taste. I am an older fan and I thought the song was mediocre. So be it.
And just FYI, Ringo has a new album coming out on April 24 (his 22nd studio album, plus his recent string of EPs). My fave LPs of his are Ringo, Time Takes Time, and Choose Love.
I hope to have 10% of the energy Ringo displays in his 70s and 80s.
Comment by Greg Mayer
I’ve always liked the album Ringo— I still have the LP– and also the non-album song “It Don’t Come Easy”. The latter song plus several from the album were hits.
GCM
Our jamming groups play “It Don’t Come Easy”. Great song!
I agree about George, always #1 of all time for me, but I liked a LOT of stuff McCartney did with Wings and even on his own in the 80s.
And John’s stuff w/ Yoko I enjoyed a lot.
This must be what ranking gods is like for religious polytheists! 🙂
I’ll listen to the new one with an open mind.
D.A.
NYC 🗽
I don’t think McCartney lost it after the Beatles. (I highly recommend the new film, Man On the Run on exactly that: McCartney after the Beatles.)
The entire album Band On the Run is great.
Just a few:
Maybe I’m Amazed
Another Day
Hi Hi Hi
My Love
Live and Let Die
Helen Wheels
Jet
Band On the Run
Nineteen Hundred Eighty Five
Listen to What the Man Said
Silly Love Songs
Mull of Kintyre
Of course, I agree that the Beatles had an amazing chemistry and produced an unparalleled body of excellent rock songs. I watched that Rick Beato video you posted a little while ago (on Taylor Swift v. The Beatles) and I agree with him wholeheartedly.
I really enjoyed The Beatles: Get Back. It was amazing to see some of the magic being made right in front of you.
It seems to me that nearly all artists (and many scientists) have only so much “gas in the tank” (I suppose it’s true of people in every metier). Many musicians I’ve loved in the past seem to have run out of gas. I haven’t paid much attention to McCartney in the last 20 years. Nor another favorite: Bruce Cockburn. Many others from the 60s and 70s. But some still impress me. Don Henley’s album Cass County (2015) is excellent in my opinion though widely panned by critics (who prefer things like Billie Eilish). At least on Henley’s album, real people are playing real instruments. And you can actually hear the instruments (it hasn’t been compressed to death). And there are (clutch my pearls) actual melodies in the songs.
Chaos and Creation in the Backyard is a pretty good album. It’s not on the same level as Ram and Band on the Run, but it’s good. I particularly like “Jenny Wren,” a song that McCartney said is a “sequel” to “Blackbird.”
Thank you. This is nice and a worthy sequel.
Speaking of Blackbird, here I am playing it (a little too fast) (I was also just playing it this afternoon, by chance):
Nice! I could never get my fingers to do that. I’m stuck with my pick on my Stratocaster. But not a bad place to be stuck.
McCartney is (or at least was) a very good fingerstyle guitar player. (And bassist, drummer, pianist, etc.)
Beautiful.
For some reason, Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Five is one of my favorite post-Beatles McCartney songs. Great bass line, cryptic lyrics, and it all just works some how.
It’s funny, on the better Beatles boards I follow, many fans/scholars like the fact that Paul isn’t autotuning or ‘fixing’ his voice, and favorably compare it to Johnny Cash’s final work.
To me it’s definitely a Paul McCartney classic it’s came at a perfect time in his life.He is sharing a memory with the world. From Abbey Rd, to the Mull of Kintaire and now to back where it all began.
I am a lifelong Beatles fan. But unfortunately this track from Paul McCartney doesn’t do anything for me. Yes he’s allowed to muse on his memories but he’s trying too hard.
This is McCartney being true to himself, the 2026 McCartney senior citizen and still doing music.
What sounds like the old village hall upright piano is great and fits.
But unfortunately for me, this song is not great, nice but that’s about it.
I guess if you keep at it (song output) you’ll improve the chances of producing a good one, so on that count good on him.
“each of the Beatles immediately lost their touch after they went solo.”
Paul and Wings was a glorious time, I loved that musical period in his life. He seemed to get better and better to me. But I get it, that sound is not for everyone. What didn’t you like about his Wings career phase? I realize that might be tough to boil down to a comment.
I think I loved it so much because much of it felt utterly present and alive, vibrant, and moving toward the future. It was an artist exploring the creative horizon as it spread out before him.
Side note: I worked at Tait Towers long ago as a grunt laborer. One day, a regular guy on the crew kicked a four-wheeled dolly, and it zoomed towards Paul’s stand-up grand piano. I stopped it just in time. I literally saved Paul’s piano long ago.
Band on the Run is head and shoulders above any other Wings album, and to my ear as good as a Beatles album. But Paul has made some dogs. Liverpool Oratorio, for example. Hearing the tenor sing “Where’s My Dinner?” was a bit kitchen-sink drama.
Hmmm, to each his own, but I like this song, shaky voice and all.