# Paul McCartney and his songwriting process.



## JesusFromTheHood (Aug 19, 2021)

Paul McCartney remembering how he composed Michelle by The Beatles in a conversation with Rick Rubin.


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## Forster (Apr 22, 2021)

There's a TV programme in the UK called, "_Would I Lie To You_" where two panels of celebrities tell tall stories to fool each other and score points. Thing is, some of the tall stories are true.

Listening to Paul, I'm reminded of some of those stories, where the added detail, intended to convince the audience, ends up sounding improbable, if not entirely fake. The chord played by Hessy, the French teacher explaining 'belle', and his jaunty guitar playing making the song sound so...cockney music hall.

If anyone thought that song composition was a deep, meaningful, activity, they should be thoroughly disabused by McCartney's apparent magpie approach.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Forster said:


> If anyone thought that song composition was a deep, meaningful, activity, they should be thoroughly disabused by McCartney's apparent magpie approach.


Rick Beato, a musician/producer, has a number of YouTube videos about rock/pop music, and he said that a number of songwriters come up with songs by singing the melodies first, then fitting the words and chords in afterwards. (David Byrne in his book is so OCD about that that he will record his melodies, then spend insane amounts of time finding words to fit them.) I couldn't do something like that. But then again, they're rich and I'm not.


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Manxfeeder said:


> Rick Beato, a musician/producer, has a number of YouTube videos about rock/pop music, and he said that a number of songwriters come up with songs by singing the melodies first, then fitting the words and chords in afterwards. (David Byrne in his book is so OCD about that that he will record his melodies, then spend insane amounts of time finding words to fit them.) I couldn't do something like that. But then again, they're rich and I'm not.


I've written songs both ways, sometimes in the same song. Once I wrote a song's harmonic structure with the help of pulling chords out of a hat. I've written lyrics to a verse and chorus, THEN put music to it, THEN wrote the 2nd verse to fit the music.

I'm pretty certain that *McCartney* writes his songs using many different techniques, including serendipity, as in the case of *Yesterday*, for which he dreamed the tune. I'd says sometimes he starts on piano, or guitar, then finds neat progressions or riffs he likes, builds a melody, then adds lyrics, and sometimes I'll bet he does it the other way around, starting with some lyrics, then finding suitable music to go with them.

One thing though . . . McCartney is a craftsman, he USUALLY avoids a slapdash approach (as his former bandmate John Lennon often did) . . . he'll spend a considerable amount of time working out lyrics and melody and arrangements of his songs.


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