Paul McCartney‘s long, storied recording career has included forays into just about every style of music you could possibly imagine. On the 1972 single “C Moon,” recorded with the earliest incarnation of his band Wings, he lovingly tackled reggae.
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McCartney played it light in a lyrical sense with the song, even creating his own lingo with the title phrase. “C Moon” hit the Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic, despite having to overcome obstacles caused by “Hi Hi Hi,” the track with which it was paired as a double A-sided single.
In the Key of “C”
When Paul McCartney emerged to make music again following the breakup of The Beatles in 1970, he seemed determined to do so in a relaxed, off-the-cuff fashion, perhaps to temper the expectations of fans and critics. Both his first solo album (McCartney) and his first album with Wings (Wild Life) were somewhat ramshackle affairs, free of excessive fussing when it came to the writing and recording.
McCartney also seemed determined to broaden his horizons in the types of music he was going to make. While he had dabbled lightly in reggae with The Beatles (“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” features hints of it), he went all-in on “C Moon.” It was a trip to Jamaica with wife Linda that helped light his fuse, as he explained in the book Wingspan: Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run:
“We both loved the music and going to Jamaica became our big ambition. When we did, we really fell in love with it: the country, the people, the music, the lifestyle, the weather. We spent weeks there, soaking up a lot of reggae—it was the start of rap but they used to call it toasting. There was a radio station called RJR that played reggae all day long, and a little shop in Montego Bay called Tony’s Record Store where we used to sift through all the 45s.”
“C Moon” was recorded in a lighthearted spirit, so much so that McCartney and drummer Denny Seiwell, neither of whom were known for their horn skills, each played cornet on the track. That didn’t stop McCartney from releasing the song as part of a double A-Side single with “Hi Hi Hi.”
Unfortunately, “Hi Hi Hi” caused some consternation with the BBC, who misheard lyrics in the song and thought McCartney was saying something obscene. They banned it from airplay. Nonetheless, the dual single still managed to find success, even becoming the band’s first U.S. Top 10.
Examining the Lyrics of “C Moon”
You might be wondering what a “C Moon” is? Well, McCartney was essentially inventing his own slang phrase. At one point in the lyrics, he sings, It will be L7, and I’d never get to heaven. The L7, famously used in the song “Wooly Bully,” was another way of calling someone a square (which is what you get if you form an L with one hand and connect it to a 7 with the other).
Well, McCartney imagined “C Moon” in the same vein. Form a C with one hand, and a half-moon with the other, and you get a perfect circle. It was McCartney’s way of saying something is cool. Granted, it didn’t catch on in quite the same way as L7, but it befits such a loose, funky little song.
The rest of the lyrics are very much in the same laissez-faire mode. There are hints at a generational divide: How come no one older than me / Ever seems to understand the things I want to do? And a touch of youthful rebellion: Bobby lived with Patty / But they never told her Daddy / What their love was all about.
But mostly, “C Moon” is all about having a laugh and sinking into a sultry reggae groove. Even the start and finish of the song make it sound as if no one in Wings was even sure this was going to be a recorded take. It all plays into the vibe that Paul McCartney and Wings cultivated around that time, which was very “C Moon”/cool indeed.
Photo by Jorgen Angel/Redferns
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