Paul McCartney, both in and out of The Beatles, is best known for being an excellent pop songwriter. He wrote fun dance-friendly tunes, love songs, and everything in between. However, a few deep cuts from Paul McCartney leaned more toward the vulnerable and honest side, and I think those songs deserve a bit more attention. Let’s take a look at a few Paul McCartney deep cuts that get pretty honest and vulnerable!
Videos by American Songwriter
“Heart Of The Country” from ‘Ram’ (1971)
Written shortly after the inevitable breakup of The Beatles, “Heart Of The Country” is a soft acoustic ballad that touches on McCartney’s very understandable yearning for peace after the end of Beatlemania. Co-written by Linda McCartney, this surprisingly mellow release with a folk rock vibe almost doesn’t sound like a McCartney original at all. And while some might just hear a song about a man searching for a farm, McCartney fans know that this song wasn’t about a farm at all. It’s a real heartbreaker when you consider the context.
“Some People Never Know” from ‘Wild Life’ (1971)
This is a surprisingly raw and relatively stripped-down song from McCartney that some could interpret as an exploration of the very human feeling of regret, particularly when it comes to missed romantic opportunities. Another co-written effort with Linda, “Some People Never Know” was actually a love song, per McCartney himself. He said that the song was “me and Linda’s love song, us against the world.”
McCartney’s vocals and quite fragile on this one, and it’s one of my personal favorite vocal performances from the former Beatle.
“Young Boy” from ‘Flaming Pie’ (1997)
Paul McCartney gets really honest and reflective on this track that looks back at his childhood and youth in general.
“This was another song written when I’d set myself an arbitrary deadline,” said McCartney of “Young Boy” in an interview with Club Sandwich in 1997. “We were in Long Island and Linda was cooking with Pierre Franey for a New York Times article. I had taken my guitar, and was sitting around in a nearby room when a song came up. It wrote itself: I was thinking about all the young people I know, and remembering my own early days.”
Photo by Peter Timmullstein bild via Getty Images
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