Paul McCartney on Later – Only Mama Knows

So, first impressions: A great all-out rocker that proves Paul’s still got it. In fact, musically this is right up there with songs like “Jet” and “Live and Let Die”. But here’s the kicker: once you listen–really listen–to the words, you realize this song has an unusual plot. It’s sung from the perspective of an adult who was abandoned by his biological mother in an airport, and has lived with the question all of his life: why? We don’t know if he was adopted or lived in foster care (the hint that the latter may be the case can be found in the lyric “I’m on the road, no ETA, I’m passing through, no fixed abode”.

How do we know, students, that this song’s about an abandoned baby?
Proof text #1: “Round my hand was a plastic band with a picture of my face/I was crying, left to die in this godforsaken place”
Proof text #2: “Was it planned as a one night stand or did she live in disgrace/well I never, will I ever see my father’s face?”

I can imagine a very dramatic MTV-type music video showing the scenes acted out. Probably would need to be shot in B&W.

Anyway the depth of the lyrics and the emotions add a lot more to this song, thereby making it a personal favorite and one of Paul’s best songs in a long time!

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