This one
| This one | |
|---|---|
| Paul McCartney | |
| publication | 1989 |
| length | 4 min 10 s |
| Genre (s) | pop |
| Author (s) | Paul McCartney |
| album | Flowers in the Dirt |
This One is a song by Paul McCartney that appeared on the album Flowers in the Dirt in June 1989 and was released as a single that same year.
background
This One is one of Paul McCartney's songs, the lyrics of which are based on a play on words . In This One , McCartney works with the word pairs This One ("exactly this" or "this one") and The Swan ("the swan"). It was also influenced by Indian mythology : McCartney himself compared the image of the swan with a god riding on its back with images of the Indian deity Krishna on the swan, which he had seen during the Beatles' stay in India in 1968. However, he emphasized that with the "very spiritual [n] and calm [n] image [...] he was not subscribing to any specific religion", and called the song in its basic structure a love song.
production
This One was written by Paul McCartney, who also took on the lead vocals and recorded acoustic guitar, electric bass, keyboard, rhythm guitar and the harmonium on the recording. He also played the sitar and tambourine and experimented with wine glasses. Hamish Stuart played acoustic guitar and rhythm guitar and took over the second voice. In addition, were Chris Whitten (drums, percussion), Robbie McIntosh (acoustic guitar, electric guitar) and Judd Lander ( harmonica involved) at the reception. Paul and Linda McCartney and Hamish Stuart sang the harmonies. The recording engineer was Geoff Emerick .
The song is about a person who asks someone else if they have ever taken them in their arms, looked into their eyes, patted their cheek, etc. In the chorus the explanation is given: If this has never happened, then only, because she had waited for a better moment for it, but it never came. Now, however, there is no better time than this. Via the line “than this one, this one” there is a transition to the second part of the chorus, which takes up the sound with “The swan is gliding…”. The song follows the traditional scheme of verse - chorus - verse - chorus - bridge - verse - chorus - outro with conventional chord changes.
publication
song
This One appeared on McCartney's ninth solo album Flowers in the Dirt on June 5, 1989 and was released as a live version on the 1990 triple LP Tripping the Live Fantastic . The single This One came out on July 17, 1989 in England. It contained on the B-side the song The First Stone , which had been recorded for Flowers in the Dirt , but was not released on the record. In the US, the single came out on August 1, but was only available there as a music cassette. A week later, the limited 7 "vinyl single This One / The Long and Winding Road followed in Great Britain .
The single cover shows the figure of the god Krishna, who flies over the water on a swan. The sun is reflected in the sea, a rainbow can be seen to the side. The drawing is by Sni Muk Fej , the cover design by the Mainartery agency in London .
From This One three maxi singles were released:
- This One / The First Stone / I Wanna Cry / I'm in Love Again : It was released as a 12 "vinyl maxi single and 5" CD single and was released on July 17, 1989. The songs I Wanna Cry and I'm in Love Again come from the 1988 sessions for the album Снова в СССР and had not previously been released.
- This One / The First Stone / Good Sign : It was released on July 31, 1989 as a 12 ″ vinyl maxi single. The song Good Sign was written during the Flowers in the Dirt sessions .
- This One (Club Lovejoys Mix) / The First Stone / I Wanna Cry / I'm in Love Again : It was released as a 12 ″ vinyl maxi single. The remixing of This One was from Matt Butler . The maxi single was released in Germany in October 1989 during Paul McCartney's appearances in Germany as part of his world tour.
In the USA, 7 "vinyl promotional singles (with A-side This One on both sides ) and 5" CD promotional singles were produced.
Video
The music video for This One was shot by Tim Pope based on an idea from McCartney . Filming took place at Albert Wharf Studios in London. A special feature of the video is that McCartney keeps his eyes closed for large parts, with the eyelids being painted with eyes in some scenes. The video with Indian flair cost around 350,000 DM (converted, as of 1989). A second promotional video was made in July 1989, directed by Dean Chamberlain .
A live interpretation of the song can be found in the concert film Get Back by Richard Lester and Aubrey Powell from 1991, a documentary on The Paul McCartney World Tour in 1989 and 1990. The US PBS special The Making Of Flowers in the Dirt from 1989 also shows an interpretation of the song by McCartney and his band.
reception
This One reached number 18 on the UK charts in 1989 and number 94 on the US Billboard Hot 100 . The song came to number 40 in the German charts, number 8 in the Austrian charts, number 31 in the Dutch charts and number 30 in the Belgian (Flemish) charts.
Allmusic described This One as "lovely". The Rolling Stone called the song's witty play on words cute, but found that the song spreads too much and in the end it strains the patience of the audience too much (“extends its cute, lyrical conceit for too long and winds up taxing the listener's patience . ").
literature
- Vincent P. Benitez: The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years . The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection 2010, p. 129.
- Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, pp. 154-157.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Vincent P. Benitez: The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years . The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection 2010, p. 129.
- ^ Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 154.
- ↑ See information in the booklet of the CD Flowers in the Dirt , 1989, p. 5.
- ↑ a b Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 155.
- ^ Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, pp. 155-157.
- ↑ Cf. Maik Brodersen: World tour for our world . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , 29./30. July 1989, p. 4.
- ↑ Alex Gernandt: Paul McCartney - Video for Peace . In: Bravo, August 17, 1989.
- ↑ See The Official UK Charts Company
- ↑ See US chart positions for Flowers in the Dirt on allmusic.com.
- ↑ See overview of This One's chart placements on hitparade.ch
- ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Flowers in the Dirt , allmusic.com.
- ^ Anthony DeCurtis: Flowers In The Dirt . In: Rolling Stone , June 29, 1989 ( online ).