Song of the Day 12/2: Paul McCartney creates “Get Back”
I haven’t seen “Get Back” yet, but I’ve noticed two common elements in many of the reviews I’ve seen — it’s really long, and there’s an amazing moment when, as the rest of the band waits for John Lennon, Paul McCartney creates “Get Back.”
I’ll save you about 8 hours: Here’s that moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kOQ5sgzhRA
I never worked out all the lyrics for Get Back, but I like the propulsive drive. For all the effort fans put into interpreting lyrics, this confirms my take (at least for this song) that the music comes first, and the words are just vocalizations – word salad with syllables that fit the beat. Scatting, except with real words.
There’s a famous bootleg with lyrics about Puerto Ricans in the USA and South Asians in the UK, satirizing an anti-immigrant speech given by Enoch Powell, telling South Asians (Paki is the British slur) to “get back.” In that context the phrase makes more sense than among the official clever-nonsense lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcjBF1uj6Do
It is not a bootleg anymore. Paul sets out to write a protest song. It is a fascinating segment in the documentary. Very plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.