Another Day (Paul McCartney song)

"Another Day"
Single by Paul McCartney
B-side "Oh Woman, Oh Why"
Released 19 February 1971 (UK)
22 February 1971 (US)
Format 7"
Recorded 12 October 1970
Genre Rock
Length 3:41
Label Apple
Writer(s) Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney
Producer(s) Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney singles chronology
"Another Day"
(1971)		 "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
(1971)

"Another Day" is a song recorded by Paul McCartney in New York in 1970, during the sessions for his album Ram. Although it was the first single of McCartney's solo career, "Another Day" was written and previewed during the Beatles' Let It Be sessions in 1969.[1][2][3] It was released on 19 February 1971 in the UK, with "Oh Woman, Oh Why" as the B-side.[4][5] Neither song was included on the Ram album.

History

"Another Day" is written in an observational style reminiscent of "Eleanor Rigby"; Denny Seiwell, the drummer from the Ram Sessions, called it "'Eleanor Rigby' in New York City."[6][7] The lyrics describe the drudgery and sadness of an unnamed woman's life at work and at home.

Paul's wife, Linda McCartney, provided vocal harmonies on "Another Day". Describing his and Linda's distinctive harmonies, McCartney said "I wanted 'our' sound." Paul was deliberately attempting to create a unique McCartney style, a musical identity outside of the Beatles.[3] McCartney had decided to list Linda as co-writer of more than half the songs on Ram, and this decision extended to "Another Day." Despite her lack of a musical pedigree, he insisted that Linda had been an active collaborator, making valuable suggestions about lyrics and melodies.[8] Linda's credits as co-writer were later regarded as business manoeuvres in the post-Beatles legal matters.[1] In July 1971, Northern Songs and Maclen Music sued Paul and Linda McCartney for violating an exclusive rights agreement by collaborating on "Another Day".[9] In June 1972, ATV announced that "all differences between them have been amicably settled" and Paul and Linda signed a new seven-year co-publishing contract between ATV and McCartney Music.[10]

Matching the lyrical sense of isolation and social alienation was the unique sound of "Another Day." Recording engineer on the Ram sessions Dixon Van Winkle said that Paul asked him to pick the single. With McCartney's blessing, Winkle mixed the song and pressed 100 copies for radio stations. "The next day I heard it on the air, I realized...we got carried away with the bass part...it pumped like crazy. But we never remixed the song, and Paul never said anything."[3]

McCartney has played the song live several times over the years, first on his 1993 World Tour and then for the first time in 20 years on his 2013 Out There Tour.

Recording

According to drummer Denny Seiwell, the song was the first one taped during the Ram sessions in New York City at Columbia Studios. Basic track consisted of McCartney on acoustic guitar, Dave Spinozza on electric and Denny Seiwell on drums, with many overdubs added in subsequent sessions (bass, percussion, lots of other guitar parts).[11]

Later release

Although "Another Day" and "Oh Woman, Oh Why" were not originally included on Ram, some CD re-releases of Ram have one or both songs as bonus tracks. "Another Day" has also appeared on several of McCartney's greatest hits albums, including All the Best!. It also appeared on the Wings greatest hits compilations Wings Greatest and Wingspan: Hits and History even though the song was not credited to Wings and predates the band's formation. The single was re-released as part of Record Store Day 2012.[12] It was included on the Special and Deluxe editions of the 2012 remaster of Ram.[13]

The song was included on an EP (along with "Oh Woman, Oh Why", "Junk" and "Valentine's Day") released only in Mexico.[14]

Chart performance

The song was a hit in the United States and the United Kingdom, peaking at number five in the US and number two in the UK in March 1971.[15][16][17] In Australia, the song spent one week at number one. In France, the song was also a number one hit.

Peak positions

Chart (1971) Position
Australian Kent Music Report[18] 1
Austrian Singles Chart[19] 10
Belgian Singles Chart (Flanders)[20] 10
Canadian RPM Top 100 Singles[21] 4
Canadian RPM MOR[22] 6
Dutch Singles Chart[23] 3
Irish Singles Chart[24] 1
Italian Singles Chart[25] 4
Japanese Oricon Singles Chart[26] 6
Norwegian VG-lista Singles Chart[27] 3
Spanish Singles Chart[28] 1
Swiss Singles Chart[29] 7
UK Singles Chart[16] 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[17] 5
US Billboard Easy Listening[17] 4
West German Media Control Singles Chart[30] 6

Year-end charts

Chart (1971) Position
Australia GoSet[31] 50
Canadian RPM Singles Chart[32] 58
Dutch Singles Chart[33] 64
Italian Singles Chart[25] 29
Japanese Oricon Singles Chart[26] 43
U.S. Billboard Top Pop Singles[34] 60
U.S. Billboard Top Easy Listening Singles[34] 44

Sales

Region Sales
Japan (Oricon)[26] 247,000+

In popular culture

This song is referenced in John Lennon's "How Do You Sleep?" in the line "The only thing you done was 'Yesterday', and since you've gone you're just 'Another Day'". It was featured prominently in a 2009 episode of The Simpsons titled "Bart Gets a 'Z'", and has also been included in several films such as 50 First Dates (2004) and The Lovely Bones (2009).

References

  1. 1 2 Janovitz, Scott. "Review of "Another Day"". Allmusic. Retrieved 28 August 2009.
  2. ↑ Blaney, John (2007). Lennon & McCartney: Together Alone. Jawbone Books.
  3. 1 2 3 Blaney 2007, pp. 40.
  4. ↑ Doggett, Peter (2009). You Never Give Me Your Money. Harper Collins Books.
  5. ↑ Doggett 2009, pp. 156.
  6. ↑ Carlin, Peter Ames (2009). Paul McCartney: A Life. Touchstone Books.
  7. ↑ Carlin 2009, pp. 211.
  8. ↑ Doggett 2009, pp. 168.
  9. ↑ "McCartney and Wife Sued on 'Another Day' Recording", New York Times, 23 July 1971, p. 15.
  10. ↑ Perry, Rupert. Northern Songs: The True Story of the Beatles Song Publishing Empire (2006)
  11. ↑ Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, pp.31-34.
  12. ↑ "Paul McCartney - Another Day / Oh Woman, Oh Why (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 21 April 2012. Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Sir Paul McCartney 'RAM' tracklisting, reissue details revealed". paulmccartney.com. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
  14. ↑ "Another Day / Junk / Oh Woman, Oh Why / Valentine Day by Paul McCartney". rateyourmusic.com. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  15. ↑ Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). Rock Movers & Shakers. Billboard Books.
  16. 1 2 "Paul McCartney > Artists > Official Charts". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  17. 1 2 3 "Allmusic: Paul McCartney: Charts & Awards". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  18. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  19. ↑ "Paul McCartney – "Another Day" – austriancharts.at" (ASP) (in German). Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  20. ↑ "ultratop.be Paul McCartney – "Another Day"" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  21. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 15, No. 12". RPM. 8 May 1971. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  22. ↑ "Adult Contemporary - Volume 15, No. 15". RPM. 29 May 1971. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  23. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Paul McCartney – "Another Day"" (ASP). Hung Medien. MegaCharts. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  24. ↑ "Search the Charts" (enter "Paul Mc Cartney" into the "Search by Artist" box, then select "Search"). Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  25. 1 2 "Hit Parade Italia - Top Annuali Single: 1971" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  26. 1 2 3 Okamoto, Satoshi (2011). Single Chart Book: Complete Edition 1968-2010 (in Japanese). Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. ISBN 4-87131-088-4.
  27. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Paul McCartney – "Another Day"" (ASP). VG-lista. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
  28. ↑ Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  29. ↑ "Paul McCartney – "Another Day" – hitparade.ch" (ASP) (in German). Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  30. ↑ "Single Search: Paul McCartney – "Another Day"" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  31. ↑ http://www.poparchives.com.au/gosetcharts/1971/top1971.html
  32. ↑ "RPM 100 Top Singles of 1971". RPM. 8 January 1972. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  33. ↑ "Dutch charts jaaroverzichten 1971" (ASP) (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  34. 1 2 Nielsen Business Media, Inc (25 December 1971). Billboard – Talent in Action 1971. Retrieved 1 May 2014.

External links

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