Paul McCartney is one of a rare group of songwriters who can create beautiful melodies and catchy lyrics while saying something unique. While most artists can do one or the other, McCartney’s craft became legendary because he could multitask. This is a fact I’ve long known well as an avid McCartney listener. Over the last week, I looked back at the rock giant’s discography and really listened closely. I found three lines that I heard in a new way, completely changing how I see McCartney’s music.
“Calico Skies”
Long live all of us crazy soldiers / Who were born under calico skies / May we never be called to handle / All the weapons of war we despise
“Calico Skies” has long been one of my favorite McCartney songs, but I’ve listened to it so much that it’s started to all run together. Like a word you’ve said one too many times and has lost its meaning, “Calico Skies” is a song I hear for its big picture rather than its little moments.
But when I revisited it this week, the final verse popped out to me in a completely new way. McCartney says a lot in the lines above, while saying very little. McCartney commiserates with like minds in these lyrics, recalling the 60s anti-war crowd. McCartney has delivered many similar statements over the years, but never has he called for peace in such a simple and stunning way.
“Off The Ground”
Though it takes a lot of power / To make a bog tree grow / It doesn’t need a pot of knowledge / For a seed knows what a seed must know.
“Off The Ground” isn’t a song I’ve frequently listened to as a McCartney fan. Nevertheless, it has one line that piqued my interest. In the lyrics above, McCartney sings of what a tree needs to grow, while under the surface, talking about ideas much larger than that.
There are endless applications for this line in the listener’s life. As I see it, McCartney is telling his audience that the innate knowledge of growth is within all of us. That growth isn’t always an easy push, but it’s lying in wait for us to buck up the courage.
“The End”
And in the end, the love you take / Is equal to the love you make
Perhaps it’s an obvious choice, but I couldn’t let this list pass without including this iconic line from “The End.” This is one of McCartney’s most beloved lyrics for a reason. It’s a simple line but packed with power. This line comes in right at the end, sending The Beatles off with a mic drop moment.
This line basically epitomizes the 60s frame of mind. It’s perhaps a tad idealistic and hippie-ish, but if we remove all of that context, we’re left with a morsel of advice we’d all do well to take.
(Photo Robert R. McElroy/Getty Images)