A SHORT REFLECTION ON HOPE BY PAUL MCCARTNEY

 

 

Paul McCartney is never seen as the most political or spiritual of Beatles. He has certainly never written anything lyrical to challenge Imagine by Beatle John or My Sweet Lord by Beatle George.

However, a couple of years ago, as I lay on my early morning holiday bed listening to him on my iPod shuffle, I became aware of a theme that I had never recognised before in McCartney’s work; hope!

Now some might immediately jump to his song Hope Of Deliverance and say that it states the patently obvious. Maybe! However my songs that appeared spookily close together on that shuffle were Tug Of War from album of same title, Summer’s Day from McCartney II and Golden Earth Girl from Off the Ground.

All three songs speak of a deep hopefulness of what will happen beyond the difficult moments the singer is in; the entire culture in Tug Of War; the very personal in Summer’s Day; and the eco world in Golden Earth Girl.

 

What excited me today as I thought of posting this blog for Paul's 73rd birthday, was that since that holiday blog McCartney has added to his canon of hope last year's single Hope For The Future:

Hope for the future
It's coming soon enough
How much can we achieve?
Hope for the future
It will belong to us
If we believe
If we believe

Just what Macca is believing or putting his hope in is hard to say. I have already blogged on this issue in my Lyric Of the Day on The End Of The End (see link below).  It would seem that McCartney confirmed in Hope For The Future my hunch that he was expressing the secular wishfulness of something better.

Without doubt these songs are another sign in the art of our culture that human beings need hope and even if we are atheist or agnostic when there is nothing tangible we make it up.

For me it is not about belief but about what we believe in. I am not hopeless in my theological take on human beings. However, my belief would be that there is a flaw in our DNA that limits what we can achieve.  I have to say I am not strong enough to make the change alone and don't have a strong enough faith in just wishing. My weakness turns ultimately to transcendence and God.     

Paul McCartney - The End Of the End 

Paul McCartney on Jules Holland

Paul McCartney - Good Evening New York City

 

 

Comments

[Dave wainscott]

Great post . I know you know the story about McCartney praying with U2, but some of your readers won't . See the link. mcCartney's drummer, a Christian , says Paul leads in prayer before every concert

[Dave wAinscott]

Oops here's the link
http://davewainscott.blogspot.com/2008/01/paul-and-ringo-and-god-and-music.html?m=1