‘Carried’: The forgotten indie song Paul McCartney once classed among his all-time favourites
An old English teacher of mine once told me a vital lesson: to be a writer, you have to also be a reader. It applies to music, too, as a pattern emerges that the best players are also fans; take Paul McCartney as an example.
For the entirety of McCartney’s career, from the very start and still today, he’s never been shy about sharing his love for other acts. In the beginning, it was looming legends like Elvis Presley, stating, “I’ve never heard anything like that before, man.”
As time went on and his influences evolved, it was the blues legends he was always celebrating. Fats Domino stood out as a clear one, as he called him, “The great rock ’n’ roll pianist and singer.” In the world of songwriting, too, there were artists McCartney loved like any other fan; Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, Sting, Brian Wilson, all of them have his admiration.
Having grown up in the 1950s and become a legend in the 1960s, McCartney’s taste would be forgiven for being stuck right there in what many believe to be the golden age of music. However, a further proof of his deep love for music at large, he’s also a big fan of modern acts, speaking praise to the likes of Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers, St Vincent, Beck and more. Clearly, he’s embraced the modern age and the new generation of artists.
He always has, as McCartney always seems to have stayed in tune with the musical world around him, perhaps more so than most. It was revealed clearly when he curated a playlist of his favourite songs for Uncut.
Tilted Glastonbury Groove, these are the tunes he said get him in a good mood, hype him up to perform, and simply remind him how great music is. On it, there were the classics as expected from his Beatles bandmates and these heroes. But amongst them, there was a modern track from a forgotten indie band: Steadman.
Formed in 1998, the band have been featured on plenty of film soundtracks but largely flew under the radar for the most part. However, McCartney thought that was a crime as he said, “The band Steadman have the songs, the musicianship, the energy and the enthusiasm to blow the top off any club or arena.”
He included their tune ‘Carried’ in his playlist, backing the early 2000s indie tune and placing it alongside timeless anthems like ‘God Only Knows’. Whether he’s still spinning the track today, or whether it was a fleeting fancy, who knows? But the fact that McCartney’s finger remains on the pulse is proof – to be a good artist, you have to be a fan too.
