Song Review: Paul McCartney's latest, "Fuh You"

There has long been a rumor that Paul McCartney actually died years ago, and that the current 76-year old "version" of him is just an impostor who looks very similar. Whoever he is, the man's latest single, "Fuh You", is so atrocious that I just had to write about it.

OK, I don't actually think this is a fake version of Paul. But it might as well be. His latest single was produced and mixed by Ryan Tedder, the lead singer of OneRepublic, which should tell you everything you need to know (just check out their latest song "Connection" featured in that summer Jeep commercial... so so terrible). I was extremely relieved to find out that there were different producers on the rest of Sir Paul's forthcoming album, which I have been looking forward to for quite a bit of time. However, I really felt compelled to note the sheer pettiness and gutless nature of this single, seeing as it was written by quite possibly the greatest songwriter of the last 70 years.

So the first time I gave this single a listen I instantly had my head in my hands. There are just so many noticeable defects right off the bat, mostly due to the glossy, over-produced and sickeningly bouncy tone of the song. This might as well be a OneRepublic song with Sir Paul singing lead vocals. I understand that he is 76, but because of how bouncy the keyboards are his voice takes on this really weird inflection that seems to me to be his way of trying to sound hip and fun. It just doesn't work-especially combined with the reverb Ryan put on his voice, with pointless echoes and ooo-ing in the background. There is just a plain awful production to this song, as it is so desperately trying to nail down a current-Top 40 sound.

The instrumentals are a deal-breaker to be sure, but if that wasn't bad enough, these lyrics are without a doubt the most insipid I have ever heard from Sir Paul. They are completely vapid and beyond cliché, and though I don't go necessarily to his music for extremely challenging and thought-provoking lyrical content, the laughable lyrics were just too distracting to ignore. Just check these out:

I just want to know how you feel
Want a love that's so proud and real
You make me want to go out and steal
I just want it fuh you, I just want it fuh you

Come on baby now, help me work it out
I won't let you down, so you don't need to shout
I could stay up half the night, playing with your head
I could stay up half the night, but I'd rather go to bed


In a recent interview, McCartney donned this song a "raunchy sort of love song". Huh? In what way? Just because "fuh you" sounds kinda sorta like a bit of swearing? I just don't understand how anyone could convince themselves that this was inspired and thoughtful song craftsmanship.

Now don't get me wrong, this song in no way tarnishes the legacy that Paul McCartney holds, at least in my view. No single song or even batch of songs could unravel the way this man completely turned the music industry upside down or the amount of timeless classics he has left indelible on the minds of the American and British public. However, the fact that even someone of this standard could produce something so profoundly lackluster is at least a little disheartening to me. I don't dwell on it much, seeing as Sir Paul himself said this was written while in the studio and all the signs point to this song having been a sloppily a hastily written bit of time-killing filler. So it clearly wasn't penned after days and days of thoughtful deliberation (or so I hope). My theory is that this is probably an example of a song where the end goal is to just "get it out there" and have something new to perform. I get that sentiment, seeing as the man has been requested to play the same songs for over 50 years.

At the same time, I just wish songs like this would be left on the cutting room floor. So many musicians idolize this man, and if he is okay with putting out pure garbage like this song, why shouldn't others do the same? It may be a mantle he never signed up for, but it is the reality when you are so greatly revered amongst the entire public. I may be a stubborn purist, and I can see where you would think that. But I just don't like when songs are written just to "put it out there" and be forgotten within a few weeks. This is the troubling trend within the pop music industry: music is meant to leave a mark, creating an existential connection between people when it's at its best- dare I say without generalizing too much that most of the hip-hop and pop singles on the Billboard charts currently are meant to simply be earworms that flutter from one week to the next and then disappear almost forever. That is something that would never be said about the Beatles, music that has withstood the test of time and catalyzed the experimental and boundary-pushing nature of music as we know it today. I will get past this minor annoyance from Sir Paul, and hope that his new album, Egypt Station, will produce some interesting and progressive ideas on the whole.