10 Paul McCartney songs that should have been Beatles tracks
Paul McCartney has had music flowing through his veins since he first performed with The Beatles. Whether it was working with John Lennon or crafting music with his wife Linda, every song that McCartney dreamt up has the same type of sunny optimism that makes for the catchiest melodies of all time. While nothing can equal what McCartney did with his old band, a few solo hits come fairly close.
From the early days when he had nothing to prove and through the years with Wings, McCartney has kept the same high standard for songwriting throughout his entire career. Although every artist tends to have a few duds in their catalogue, McCartney had a handful of songs that were good enough to stand alongside classic tracks by The Beatles.
Considering how long he spent honing his craft with his fellow Beatles, plenty of McCartney solo hits reflect that same energy, from the “granny shit” that he might have made during the Sgt Pepper period to the soft ballads that could have had a soft influence from John Lennon or George Harrison. Compared to the wild left turns of other acts that go solo, it’s easy to picture the final versions of select McCartney’s solo tunes as Beatles cuts without the rest of the band on them yet.
No matter what decade Macca may have found himself in, his solo marvels were proof enough that a musical giant was still walking amongst us. McCartney might have made far more complex songs after leaving his old band, but the simplicity behind these tunes was foundational to what made classics like ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Let It Be’ work so well.
10 Paul McCartney songs that should have been Beatles tracks:
10. ‘The End of the End’ – Memory Almost Full
Most Beatles fans couldn’t have asked for a better finale to the group’s career than ‘The End’, a track taken from Abbey Road. Although it sadly wouldn’t be the end after they had to release Let It Be, hearing McCartney deliver that final message of love was more than enough to soothe the blow of losing The Beatles as recording artists. If they had stuck around longer, ‘The End of the End’ could have worked as a sublime send-off to their career.
Coming from the recent album Memory Almost Full, McCartney is looking back on his life in this stately ballad, wondering what will happen on the day that he does pass away. While it’s a tad surreal hearing the most optimistic Beatle get so morbid, his conviction about wanting people to laugh and having jokes be told about the good times that he’s had feels more applicable to his days in the Fab Four than any of his previous records.
Since this late-career renaissance has the same energy as an early Wings project, it’s easy to see Macca standing alongside his old mates as they recount their experiences. In an alternate reality, there’s probably a version of this song sung by all four Beatles as they slowly rock away in their rocking chairs, having lived a full life of musical ecstasy.
9. ‘Friends to Go’ – Chaos and Creation in the Backyard
Musicians often make the adage that specific instruments have songs hidden inside them. From the moment they pick up a new instrument, any artist will immediately have their creativity take over and guide them into new styles of songwriting they hadn’t touched initially. Instead of the instrument dictating his writing, McCartney got help from an old friend when working on Chaos and Creation in the Backyard.
While this 2000s album boasts a lot of modern influences thanks to Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, the folksy swell of ‘Friends to Go’ is perfect for an ex-Beatle to work on. Compared to the usual lighthearted fare that McCartney has grown accustomed to, this almost feels like a track that could have been cut by The Traveling Wilburys, with George Harrison’s slide guitar sounding like it would fit right in.
McCartney also envisioned the song as a track Harrison may have written himself and even remarked that he felt Harrison’s spirit in the room with him as he completed it. Even though the relationship between McCartney and Harrison had grown sour over the years, this is a loving nod to the little kid that McCartney had grown to think of as a little brother.
8. ‘Another Day’ – single
Towards the middle of The Beatles’ career, McCartney became one of the masters of writing fiction in the group. As opposed to John Lennon’s penchant for writing songs about surreal images for the listener, McCartney would cram an entire short story into three short minutes, like the meter maid of ‘Lovely Rita’ or the lonely old woman in ‘Eleanor Rigby’. As he started to move outside The Beatles’ model, McCartney turned in one of the ultimate slice-of-life songs of his career.
Since he was adopting a homespun mindset going into making his album Ram, ‘Another Day’ is the simple folk song that fits in perfectly with the back-to-basics approach of the rest of the record. Being described as an updated take on ‘Eleanor Rigby’, McCartney beautifully paints a picture of a woman gently slipping into her shoes as she goes about her daily routine.
For all of the initial post-Beatles output, this is McCartney at his most whimsical, going after the same audio tricks that he adopted on songs like ‘Lady Madonna’ from back in the day. The Beatles had a penchant for writing about the most important topics of their day, but ‘Another Day’ shows that McCartney could make even the most mundane tasks feel like the greatest thing in the world.
7. ‘You Gave Me The Answer’ – Venus and Mars
If there’s one thing made abundantly clear by the end of The Beatles, it’s that John Lennon was no big fan of McCartney’s “granny music”. Always being a fan of the music of the 1920s, McCartney was just as willing to write songs for the rock crowd as he did for those looking to perform a softshoe on the dance floor. While most of that aesthetic ended after songs like ‘Honey Pie’, ‘You Gave Me the Answer’ might be the most whimsical song he would ever write.
Despite Venus and Mars being framed as a rock opera happening in space, ‘Answer’ is a break in the action as McCartney talks about how much he loves Linda. Even though this song has enough cheese to cover the entirety of Switzerland, McCartney sells it just the right way, making it irresistible to go along with the track when he asks the listener, “Shall we dance?”.
Although the song works in The Beatles’ format, it’s hard not to imagine this song as a repeat of what happened with ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’, as the rest of the band get increasingly agitated as McCartney tries to get the perfect take. Regardless of what another Beatles album would have looked like, McCartney would eventually return to his oldies flair.
6. ‘Junk’ – McCartney
Half the reason why Let It Be didn’t work was because every band member was on a different creative page. While they may have been able to play better than ever, their inability to communicate with each other made it impossible for any work to get done, leading to many songs being shelved. While Beatle fans missed out on a few great potential Beatles tracks, ‘Junk’ is aching to be redone with the rest of the band.
Only including a handful of jazzy chords and McCartney’s sweet vocal, this ode to junk being thrown around the yard feels like it should have been given a proper back-and-forth between Lennon and McCartney. Though the version on McCartney’s debut album remains stunning, the listener is left waiting for Lennon to come in and add the slightly sardonic line to counteract McCartney’s sugary tone of voice.
Even McCartney seemed to see the song as somewhat of a work in progress, considering that he included a version without vocals on the album’s flipside. ‘Junk’ might not have made it past the demo stages in any Beatles session, but even Beatles demos are better than most artists on their best day.
5. ‘New’ – New
Going into the 2010s, McCartney had started to stretch the limits of what was expected of him. Instead of the usual whimsy that could be found in every typical McCartney effort, New benefitted from having multiple producers create a fun amalgam of what made Macca so interesting. While every producer added their flair, Mark Ronson practically made his own Beatles track on the title track.
Working with McCartney to get back in touch with his roots, there are subtle traces of Beatles influence across every song on the album. One minute it will sound like McCartney is dipping back into the sultry sounds of ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’; the next, he will be off on a more freeform boogie reserved for tracks like ‘Lady Madonna’.
While the song was written after he married his third wife, Nancy, McCartney approaches the subject with the same sincerity that he would have had with Linda, marvelling at how exciting and…well…new his love feels yet again. The Beatles may have been a distant memory by 2013, but McCartney’s journey back to his roots has never felt more endearing.
4. ‘Coming Up’ – McCartney II
By the end of Wings, McCartney needed a break from being a rock star. Though he may have been one of the most familiar faces of any casual music fan, his bust in Japan for drug possession led to him shying away from the traditional way of making records. Hiring a machine and throwing out the manual, ‘Coming Up’ captured the same experimentation The Beatles had at their peak.
Instead of the psychedelic trips he was used to doing back in the day, the nervy energy of the lead-off single to McCartney II screams Talking Heads, down to the uptempo rhythm guitar that leads the charge. Although McCartney is trying on a different vocal affectation in the song, it seems more tailored to something he might have done in The Beatles’ early experimental records, fitting between ‘Paperback Writer’ and ‘Penny Lane’.
McCartney wasn’t the only one thinking that the song was unique, with John Lennon loving what his former writing partner had created and starting to make music with Yoko again for Double Fantasy. A Beatles reunion probably wasn’t in the cards, but a song that brought Lennon out of the doldrums is bound to be good enough to include on a Beatles project.
3. ‘Calico Skies’ – Flaming Pie
One of the most stunning aspects of McCartney’s music comes when he strips things down. As much as he may be considered an arranging genius, he always goes for the heart when strapping on an acoustic guitar, from the stunning melody of ‘Yesterday’ to the tricky finger-picking lines of ‘Blackbird’. If both of those softer compositions were to have an offspring, it would probably look a lot like ‘Calico Skies’.
Sitting in McCartney’s vaults before being released on an album, this gem from Flaming Pie is the perfect mellow song that doesn’t seem to have a clear antecedent. Like the classics before him, it feels like McCartney channelled this song from the ether and captured it on his guitar, finding the perfectly simplistic lines for the melody, like knowing that he would love Linda from the moment he opened his eyes.
Since fellow Beatle George Harrison was also dwelling on the power of love and spirituality in his first Beatles solo efforts, this could have easily been a collaboration between McCartney and Harrison, as they fine-tuned the song until it was practically a prayer about the love for humanity. McCartney wasn’t looking to please fans by the ‘90s, but the Beatles Anthology may have led him to get back to where he once belonged.
2. ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ – McCartney
One of the common tropes that follow McCartney around today is his ability to write ballads. While he may have written the greatest rock-centric tracks in the band’s arsenal, McCartney will always be the balladeer counterpart to Lennon’s songwriting wit. Then again, it’s hard to argue how effective McCartney’s songs are if he can spit out classics like ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’.
Compared to the syrupy ballads he would write later in his career, ‘Amazed’ is the perfect blend between the sentiment and power of McCartney’s early years. Just when things start getting too saccharine, McCartney busting out his Little Richard chops on the chorus gives listeners the perfect musical foil as he talks about how his lover is the only woman who could ever help him.
Since John Lennon soured on a song like ‘Let It Be’ pretty quickly for its cheesy nature, this could have been the song that converted him back into a McCartney fan, especially if they had collaborated on the lyrics. History may have had something different in mind, but it’s easy to visualise Lennon taking the lead on the chorus just like he and McCartney shared a mic on ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ all those years ago.
1. ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ – Ram
Of all of McCartney’s solo output, Ram might be the one record that never got its due respect until years later. Despite getting a thrashing from critics and fellow Beatles, McCartney was on the cusp of indie music on his sophomore release, making an album much more homespun than his usual output. Coming after the operatic side of Abbey Road, ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ was where McCartney got to channel his ambitious side again.
Operating more like a short odyssey than a proper song, each section of this McCartney is split into different sessions, from the ballad opening to the stadium-like chant of “hands across the water” in the middle section. Although McCartney may have envisioned an organic final product, this is reminiscent of what The Beatles thrived on, using the studio as an instrument to create more intricate songs than traditional rock and roll.
Like many Beatles masterpieces, the song was destined to be a studio creation in the same league as ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ or ‘A Day in the Life’. While Lennon and McCartney were at their most polarised around this time, even Lennon had to give it up to McCartney for writing a great pop song, saying that he loved the chanting refrain. If Allen Klein was more focused on the well-being of The Beatles than making money, there’s a good chance we could be counting this among the band’s final masterpieces today.
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