Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five

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This article is about the 1974 song. For the year, see 1985. For other uses, see 1985 (disambiguation).
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"
Single by Paul McCartney and Wings
from the album Band on the Run
A-side"Band on the Run"
Released28 June 1974
RecordedOctober 1973[1]
StudioAIR Studios, London, UK<[1]
Genre
Length5:29
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Paul McCartney
Wings singles chronology
"Jet"
(1974) 		"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"
(1974) 		"Walking in the Park with Eloise"
(1974)
Official audio
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" on
YouTube
Band on the Run track listing
9 tracks
Side one
  1. "Band on the Run"
  2. "Jet"
  3. "Bluebird"
  4. "Mrs. Vandebilt"
  5. "Let Me Roll It"
Side two
  2. "Mamunia"
  3. "No Words"
  4. "Picasso's Last Words (Drink to Me)"
  5. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five"

"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (sometimes written as "1985") is a song by the British–American

Brett Easton Ellis’s novel Glamorama
, driving a group of fictional supermodels to extreme terrorist acts.

Lyrics and music

Paul McCartney has said that the song originated with just the first line.

"With a lot of songs I do, the first line is it. It's all in the first line, and then you have to go on and write the second line. With 'Eleanor Rigby' I had 'picks up the rice in the church where the wedding has been.' that was the one big line that started me off on it. With this one it was 'No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five.' That's all I had of that song for months. 'No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty... six?' It wouldn't have worked!"

— Paul McCartney, Paul McCartney In His Own Words[4]

The tune is the climactic track from the album Band on the Run. It continues the album's theme of escape by describing the singer achieving artistic freedom through love.[5] Author Andrew Grant Jackson calls the lyrics "gibberish" and mere placeholders for the excitement and "cinematic purpose" of the music."[6]

The song has a grandiose ending with a full orchestra and the band. Other instrumentation includes mellotron, organ and horns.[6] The album version ends with an excerpt of the opening song's chorus.[2][6] This song is featured on several episodes of Trigger Happy TV. In its early life, it was simply titled "Piano Thing".

Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson rated the song as McCartney's 8th most underrated song, saying that "A funky groove holds the song together as Paul delivers a gritty bluesy vocal."[7]

Personnel

Personnel per The Beatles Bible.[2]

Live performances

"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" was never performed live by Wings.

Cavern Club, his 2018–2019 Freshen Up tour, at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief and on his 2022 Got Back tour.[8] On 25 June 2022, a week after his 80th birthday, he performed the song as part of his Saturday night headline act, on the Pyramid stage, at the Glastonbury Festival.[9][10]

Cover versions

The Golden Dogs included a cover version on their 2006 album Big Eye Little Eye.

In 2016, German producer

Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.[3][11]

Tracklisting

Download single
  1. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (Radio Edit) – 2:46
  2. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" – 6:01
  3. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (Club Mix) – 5:07
Remix download single
  1. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (Kerri Chandler Kaoz 623 Again Vocal Mix) – 7:25
  2. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (Paul Woodford Rework) – 10:03
  3. "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (Tim Green Remix) – 8:49

References

  1. ^ a b c "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five (song)". The Paul McCartney project. Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  2. ^ a b c d "Nineteen Hundred And Eighty Five". The Beatles Bible. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Here Is the Complete List of Nominees for the 2017 Grammys". Billboard. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  4. ISBN 9780825639104
    .
  5. OCLC 647914724.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link
    )
  6. ^
    ISBN 9780810882225
    .
  7. ^ Swanson, Dave (18 June 2015). "Top 10 Underrated Paul McCartney Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2023-01-01.
  8. ^ Shriver, J. & Deutsch, L. (12 December 2012). "Springsteen, Kanye, Stones, McCartney rock Sandy relief". USA Today. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  9. ^ "BBC Music - Glastonbury, 2022, Paul McCartney". BBC.
  10. ^ "Watch Dave Grohl and Bruce Springsteen join Paul McCartney on stage at Glastonbury 2022". NME. 26 June 2022.
  11. ISSN 0458-3035
    . Retrieved 18 July 2017.


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