The “thickhead” criticism Paul McCartney detested about his music
Paul McCartney‘s father – also born James, though known as ‘Jim’ – was the leader of Jim Mac’s Jazz Band in the 1920s, playing trumpet and piano. Keeping the latter in the front room of the family home, Jim raised his sons to hone their musical ear, and it was this that began McCartney’s infatuation with melodies.
From his upbringing, McCartney utilised his knack for crafting compelling tunes as he helped shape The Beatles’ sound, alongside his later solo efforts. Much can be said of McCartney’s talents, as both musician and songwriter – and much has already been written – but one descriptor he would rather disregard would be to call his lyrics “soft”.
Appearing on the Sky Trax music show in December 1987, McCartney was asked about the criticism he receives for his lyrics being “quite soft” and for his strong opinions on the subject. “Yeah, a lot of the people who say that are soft, mind you,” McCartney sharply replied. “You see, you can’t have any control over what people say. There’s a lot of ‘thick-o’s out there and they just look at one or two of your records and say, ‘Oh, he’s soft.’ I mean, if you actually know all of my work, there’s a lot of stuff in there that isn’t soft.”
Still, McCartney admits that his songs that can be perceived as “soft” do come the most naturally to him, stemming from a childhood soundtracked by his father’s music. “I do tend towards melodies and ballads, ‘cause it’s easy for me,” he explained. “Some people find that, really, the hardest bit. [It] just happens to come easy to me. My dad was pretty musical, so I’ve heard tunes being made up and being played since I was a kid.”
“But, some of my lyrics are really OK, you know?” he posited, “And I will not have that, particularly when it comes from some of these thickheads that come up with it.” Much more than just “OK,” McCartney’s songbook is among the most celebrated in music history for a reason, as his ear for melody and an understanding of genre traditions bring his storytelling to life.
McCartney’s slightly humorous scorn against the “thickhead” critics who misinterpret his work may inspire a laugh, but the musician has a point: there’s a particular frustration with those who criticise his music – whether that be The Beatles’ catalogue, his Wings discography or his solo projects – without having a full, well-rounded understanding of who “Paul McCartney” is.
He references a conversation he had with a supposed critic, who remains unnamed – “He wasn’t actually a thickhead; he’ll know who he is,” McCartney asserted -who told him that his first introduction to Chuck Berry was through his 1972 novelty song, ‘My Ding-A-Ling’, which McCartney took offence to.
“[So I said], ‘Oh, terrific, and you’re a critic? Great. Well, we’re on here, aren’t we, lads,’” he remarked sarcastically, then noting, “Chuck did a little bit of major work before ‘My Ding-A-Ling’; in fact, that was actually the end of his career, as far as I was concerned.”
It is in this, then, that McCartney takes a real issue: the lack of knowledge of how an artist’s sound, such as Chuck Berry’s, came to be, and the varied talents a musician like himself can possess. Really, McCartney sees no shame in being perceived as “soft”; rather, he just wishes that were not the only label placed upon his music, and certainly not from a place of contempt.
“So, they’ve got a voice; they’ve got an opinion,” McCartney conceded of his critics, concluding, “Some of my stuff is ‘soft’. Some of the worst songs I’ve written, yeah, you could accuse me of being over-sentimental. But that doesn’t mean that everything I’ve done is like that. I mean, ‘Lady Madonna’ [has] pretty good lyrics. I could think of a couple of others, too.”
