I’ve encountered a lot of scorn from Rock snobs and casual listeners alike directed at Paul McCartney’s later career, and while some of his late-career songs do have some problems, especially in the lyrics department, this vitriol is still largely unearned. This song is particular has drawn untoward venom from his detractors, probably because he wrote it specifically to jeer at them. It may be softer in sound and lighter in subject matter than “Eleanor Rigby” or “Helter Skelter”, but this is still Paul McCartney, one of the greatest composers of the Twentieth Century, and this song finds him in close to peak form. I’ve heard Classical art songs that have been around for hundreds of years that don’t have melodies this good, and I guarantee that future generations will view this song’s detractors the same way they now view people like Eduard Hanslick and Virgil Thompson…as idiots who missed history-making genius when it was right in front of their eyes.
Verdict: Good, if you couldn’t already tell.