“We got lucky”: The record Paul McCartney became bored working on
While some musicians prefer a more polished approach, others often enjoy performing live in the studio, recording music to its fullest entity to ensure the music sounds as raw and energetic as possible. Throughout his storied career, Paul McCartney has experienced the best of both, but for his ninth record, Off the Ground, brought his touring band into the studio to maintain the directness of his stage appeal.
This approach was perhaps the best one McCartney could have taken for the album, especially considering it appeared far less nuanced—though never lacking in substance—than those on the previous album, Flowers in the Dirt. The decision to adopt a “live in the studio” format suited the confrontational energy of the record, allowing some of the singer’s more brash sentiments to shine.
These moments can be sub-categorised by different social causes or political energies, like his yearning for an improved, more equitable world, his disdain for malicious politicians, or his passion for anti-animal cruelty. In many ways, therefore, he really took this project off the ground, circulating causes for good before consciously bringing it all back, with his passion for deep-seated issues never weighing any track down for longer than needed.
Much of this appeal was suspended by the involvement of Elvis Costello and McCartney’s wife, Linda, but the secret ingredient wasn’t solely McCartney’s interest in political or social affairs, nor was it even a direct response to performing live in the studio rather than separately in parts. The main ingredient, according to the musician himself, was the basic principle of not overthinking—also known as having fun.
For this reason, working on Off the Ground was already better than Flowers in the Dirt, a fact he likely felt sure of before they had even finished because a springboard of effortless energy was already uplifting the music. In other words, while working on the album, McCartney was enjoying himself more than during the Flowers in the Dirt process, which made all the difference.
However, understanding that having fun can never truly be forced, McCartney’s enjoyment stemmed from the precursor to such a quality—letting emotion be a major driving force. After all, if something is felt and feels natural, then the music often sounds better, which makes the process far less frustrating. While making Flowers in the Dirt wasn’t exactly frustrating, creating Off the Ground felt much more free-flowing.
“This, I think, is the secret of the album,” McCartney explained in 1993, claiming that, for Flowers in the Dirt, he “experimented” with computers and worked with producers who took “a long time over everything.” This wasn’t conducive to as productive a work environment as he would have liked: “There are some interesting aspects to working like that but not enough to excite me,” he said, adding, “That’s what happened with something like ‘Biker’ – we just did it and got lucky. And the more you listen to the album the more you get to feel that we were enjoying ourselves.”
