The Beatles icon Paul McCartney discussed spouting off hilarious pickup lines and how it inspired a new song in a GQ interview.
Anyway, this new song is really called “F**k You,” right?
“Not at all! I mean, if you’re lucky, when you’re creating you can have some fun. This song was coming to a close and we were just getting a bit hysterical in the studio, as you do when you’re locked away for long hours, and I said, ‘Well, I’ll just say, “I just wanna shag you.”‘ And we had a laugh. And I said, ‘No, I’ll tell you what we can do is, I can make it questionable as to what it is I’m singing.’
So the actual lyrics are You make me wanna go out and steal / I just want to f**k you or …I just want it for you.” It’s a schoolboy prank. Which we did a lot in the Beatles. And it brings some joy to your tawdry little life. If you listen to it, I don’t actually say ‘f**k,’ because I don’t particularly want to say ‘I just want to f**k you’—I’ve got, like, eight grandchildren.” He considers this. “Of course they’d probably like it better. But anyway.…” And continues.
“So I just thought, I can fudge this easily. It was something to amuse ourselves. Hey, listen—when you make these things up, it’s not like writing a Shakespeare play. I mean, it’s intended as a popular song. So you don’t feel like you’ve got to adhere to any rules. And then you do ‘Why don’t we do it in the road?’ ‘tit-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit,’ ‘She’s a prick teaser.’ It’s kind of pathetic, but actually a great thing in its pathos because it’s something that makes you laugh. So what’s wrong with that?”
Paul McCartney released a new album titled Egypt Station last year, and he is currently on tour behind the album:
Explaining the album’s concept, Paul says, “I liked the words ‘Egypt Station.’… I think of it as a dream location that the music emanates from.” The title is taken from the piece of art featured on the cover, which Paul painted in 1988.
Egypt Station has won praise from critics around the world. In a four-star lead review, Rolling Stone said, “Macca keeps adding new gems to his songbook, with nothing to prove except he’s the only genius who can do this… (And, oh yeah – in his spare time, he happens to still be the greatest live performer on Earth.)” London’s Sunday Times, Q Magazine and MOJO also awarded the album four stars.
The New York Times’ Jon Pareles observed, “McCartney contemplates mortality and pain while still trying to offer love and strength.” TIME declared Egypt Station “Essential… a document of McCartney’s spirit, which is still irrepressible more than five decades after The Beatles made their debut.” NPR said, “This is his best album in maybe 20 years.” People noted, “Egypt Station is a tour through the imagination of one of our greatest artists – what’s not to love? It’s a celebration of all the things that make McCartney great: hope, exuberance, open mindedness and sweet melody. These days, we need all of these more than ever.”
