I get a good feeling when I see a police officer on a horse.
Here was a man unashamed to see the world through superlative-colored glasses and couldn’t help describing everything as the finest, the best, or the top ten all time, making you wonder how Tommy Lasorda felt when his pasta sauce was described as only ‘very, very good’.
But in the wake of his recent retirement I find myself philosophical and ready to re-examine King’s legacy.
Paul McCartney immediately comes to mind, a man whose legacy as a songwriting legend seemed untouchable after the Beatles era. But in Wings the man who wrote Hey Jude received criticism in equal measure for writing syrupy moon-in-June tunes like Silly Love Songs and the musical equivalent of a prostate exam: Wonderful Christmastime*, a song McCartney created by turning on his new Apple III, entering the line ‘Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time’, then the line ‘ding dong, ding dong, ding dong, ding dong’, then falling asleep on the keyboard and inadvertently pressing Ctrl+Alt+H, which on early Apple IIIs activated the shortcut for ‘Destroy Humanity’**.
Let me translate for Springsteen: Paul McCartney, you made your bones with the Beatles and have nothing left to prove. Is there any artistic merit left in disguising meaning behind metaphors and creative prose? Why not just say exactly what you’re thinking?
Chinese food tastes better Sunday nights.
I don’t know why, but I’ve never been big on cuff links.
I never get tired of listening to Canada ’s national anthem.
*Paul McCartney later admitted he was embarrassed by Wonderful Christmastime, calling into question the theory that it was intentionally bad and poking a hole in my theory, but maybe he’s on the next level of mind games now and we’re not yet ready to understand his meaning.
**A story Paul McCartney told James Cameron at a filming of Circus of the Stars, inspiring Cameron to write the screenplays Terminator and Dirty Dancing, although Dirty Dancing underwent significant re-writes before filming.
← 32″ Samsung HD TV, perfect for watching TV!
Your postings about Larry King et al were insightful and there was probably some truth in there somewhere, but who cares if it is entertaining.
And by the way…enough about “Wonderful Christmastime”. It is one of my favorites and you cannot get any mileage out of being critical of Paul McCartney who is more popular than Prince Charles (but then again, who isn’t).
Haha, just listened. Good song choice. It’s mine! And my recorder! I demand royalties.
“Wonderful Christmastime” is humiliating invasive for both genders…”simply” sayin’.
I must assume that it was easier to enter the broadcast arts 70 years ago. Well, he had 70 years in which to hone his game and…uh…crap, I forgot my point.
The performance piece was brillars!!!! I give it 5 finger snaps and groove man!
The worst is my mom is a huge fan of the Beatles AND everything Paul’s ever done. Every year around Halloween she starts blaring Wonderful Christmastime over and over. DING DONG DING DONG! Maybe if I listen to it on Sunday night it’ll seem less like a prostate exam?
Nice audio, too. “my favorite color…is orange.” I think from now on you should record every single one of your posts.
I always wondered if the ‘DING DONG DING DONG!’ lines were merely inserted as filler until Paul had time to write good lines, but no inspiration hit by the Christmas deadline.
My theory: Linda made him do it.
I like most of Sir Paul’s work at least up to year 2000. But I agree with you on WCT. My theory was that Paul thought “Well, I wrote some of the best songs ever. Let’s see if I can also write one of worst songs ever”.