h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Ormy

I'm finally done subbing Opti's "Paul McCartney" entry and I'd be grateful if you'd read it through for any glaring errors before I return it to the Eds (they're so short-staffed it may not get another proof-read)

A16932297

Hi GB,

OK, I've given it another look and I think you've done a good job of eliminating typos and generally tidying up the writing. I just spotted one typo that got away, towards the end of the 'Hard Act To Follow' section: "Wing's lifetime..." instead of "Wings' lifetime...".

More seriously, I think that describing Amnesty International as "...the freedom-fighting organisation..." is an unfortunate choice of words, as the phrase 'freedom fighters' usually implies some kind of paramilitary activity. AI is, of course, a strictly non-violent group that campaigns against the death penalty and torture, and in support of people jailed for peacefully expressing their beliefs. My suggestion: delete 'freedom-fighting', insert 'human rights' instead.

I wasn't sure that Macca had ever confirmed that 'Blackbird' was about black civil rights, but in fact it seems that he has done so. Doing a spot of Googling to resolve that question, I found this great quote from Paul about how he wrote 'Blackbird', taken from the 'Many Years From Now' by Barry Miles:
"I developed the melody on guitar based on the Bach piece and took it somewhere else, took it to another level, then I just fitted the words to it. I had in mind a black woman, rather than a bird. Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: 'Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.'

"As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place, so rather than say 'Black woman living in Little Rock' and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem.

"This is one of my themes: take a sad song and make it better, let this song help you. 'Empowerment' is a good word for it. Through the years I have had lots of wonderful letters from people saying, 'That song really helped me through a terrible period.' I think that the single greatest joy of having been a musician, and been in the Beatles, is when those letters come back to you and you find that you've really helped people. That's the magic of it all, that's the wonder, because I wrote them with half an idea that they might help, but it really makes me feel very proud when I realise that they have been of actual help to people."

I know it's a long quote, but it sums up the higher purposes that Paul sees for his music so well that I think it'd be a shame not to use at least some of it - perhaps at the end, because at the moment I think the ending is a bit negative and anti-climactic. I notice that you've taken out the list of McCartney/Wings albums, which I think is a good move; and frankly I don't see the point of the list of tours either.

I'd also like Paul's last pop album, 'Chaos And Creation In The Back Yard', to get some sort of a mention; it was very well received, and I personally think it's the best thing he's done since The Beatles. I'll take another look at the entry, see if I can work out a way to accomodate all this, and get back to you shortly.

Thanks Ormy
I look forward to hearing back from you

Hi GB,

I'm still working on the ending, but I have finally worked out what's wrong with one more section that was bothering me - the bit about the 'Anthology' project, which goes as follows:

'The remaining Beatles joined forces again in 1994 to release their Anthology of Beatles songs, which was later published in eight different languages and distributed worldwide. There were three albums all together...'

I couldn't understand how the songs could have been published in eight languages. Re-reading, it, I think Opti must have meant the 'Anthology' *book* rather than the songs. 'The Beatles Anthology' was a multi-media project involving a TV documentary series, a book and the records to which Opti refers. There were, in fact, three separate double CD sets in the series; and while Paul, George and Ringo were certainly working on the 'Anthology' project in 1994, nothing was actually released until late 1995, when the 'Anthology 1' CD set and the 'Free As A Bird' single reached the shops. 'Anthology 2' and the accompanying single 'Real Love' was released in early 1996, with 'Anthology 3' following later in 1996. 'Free As A Bird' and 'Real Love' were, of course, the 'new' Beatles tracks created by means of McCartney, Harrison and Starr overdubbing vocal and instrumental contributions on to unfinished John Lennon demo tapes. In the case of 'Free As A Bird', Paul, George and Ringo also had to complete the writing of the song, as Lennon had never gotten around to doing so. Apart from those two new tracks, the rest of the 'Anthology' CD sets consisted of a mixture of previously unreleased songs, alternative takes, demos and remixes of songs that had appeared on earlier Beatles albums, and occasional short spoken-word tracks.

Now, back to that ending...

But first...

How about dropping in Macca's explanation of the meaning of 'Blackbird' as a footnote linked to the mention of 'Blackbird' in the 'Letting Go' section?

The footnote might read: "McCartney has explained the relevance of 'Blackbird' to the Civil Rights movement as follows: '...I had in mind a black woman, rather than a bird. Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: "Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope."

'As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place, so rather than say "Black woman living in Little Rock" and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem. This is one of my themes: take a sad song and make it better, let this song help you. "Empowerment" is a good word for it...'

And finally...

How's about this for an ending, rather neatly leaving the last word to Sir Paul himself, in suitably reflective mode:

"Despite the well-publicised problems in his personal life, Sir Paul McCartney continues to be a artist capable of delighting his many fans and surprising his critics. McCartney collaborated with producer Nigel Godrich, previously known for his work with alternative rock acts like Radiohead and Beck, on his 2005 album 'Chaos And Creation In The Backyard'. The result was Sir Paul's most critically-acclaimed record in decades. In 2006, even as the tabloids continued to feed on his marital difficulties, McCartney released the highly personal, idealistic 'Ecce Cor Meum'. As he continues to create and explore, McCartney can look back with satifaction on one of modern music's most phenomenal careers."

And then this block quote:

'Through the years I have had lots of wonderful letters from people saying, "That song really helped me through a terrible period." I think that the single greatest joy of having been a musician, and been in the Beatles, is when those letters come back to you and you find that you've really helped people. That's the magic of it all, that's the wonder, because I wrote them with half an idea that they might help, but it really makes me feel very proud when I realise that they have been of actual help to people.' - Paul McCartney

I don't believe that! I suggested a very pro-Paul ending that praised 'Chaos and Creation' and 'Ecce Cor Meum', referred to the tabloid focus on the McCartneys' marriage problems (hardly a state secret) and ended with the quote about how he loves it when his songs help people. All fairly uncontentious, surely? What happened?!?

Eh? What do you mean, what happened? Sorry I've not had chance to implement your changes/additions yet, my big son is here

In case you were puzzled by my previous posting: my suggested ending was briefly hidden as a supposed breach of the House Rules. As I'm sure you can understand, I was a bit bewildered by that - but I've just had a friendly, honest e-mail from the Towers in which the Eds admitted that someone had simply pressed the wrong button.

I hope that the stuff I've posted here is useful. Macca really deserves a great Guide Entry.

I hope the posting above explains all. I think I've only been yikesed three times in seven years on h2g2, so it was a bit of a shock! There's certainly no hurry over the changes, and it's obviously entirely up to you what you use. I would just plead for a mention of 'Chaos And Creation In The Backyard'. It is a gorgeous album, and it has annoyed me that it's been so overshadowed by the tabloid ing over the Macca v. Heather saga.

Happy Christmas to you and yours!

Oh, and GB - in case you're copying and pasting, I just noticed one typo in my proposed ending: 'McCartney can look back with satifaction...'

That's 'satiSfaction', of course.

I can't give this the attention it deserves right now, so I'll implement the changes when I can, then let you know when I've finished, OK?

Considering your substantial input I'd like to add you as a contributing researcher, it's already a collaborate entry so I can add whom I like

Despite the well-publicised problems in his personal life, Sir Paul McCartney continues to be a artist capable of delighting his many fans and surprising his critics. Paul collaborated with producer Nigel Godrich, previously known for his work with alternative rock acts like Radiohead and Beck, on his 2005 album Ecce Cor Meum (Behold My Heart). The result was Paul's most critically-acclaimed record in decades. In 2006, even as the tabloids continued to feed on his marital difficulties, Paul released the highly personal, idealistic Ecce Cor Meum. As he continues to create and explore, Paul can look back with satifaction on one of modern music's most phenomenal careers.

a bit of repetition there

I'm sorry, my mistake. I'll attend to that

Glad you fixed that! I'm also glad that the great 'Chaos And Creation In The Backyard' is finally mentioned in the Entry.

Actually, maybe you're right about the repetition. Re-reading that final paragraph, you could cut 'Despite the well-publicised problems in his personal life' and open the paragraph with 'Sir Paul McCartney continues...', given that the tabloid feeding frenzy around the Macca v Mills story is mentioned a couple of lines later.

And thanks for the writing credit!

You're welcome. I've snipped some more, put that footnote you recommended into the text (and reworded the paragraph).

I think I've now got everything you mentioned - so if you'd like to give it a final read-throughit just might be ready...

Will do, Annie. To be precise, I'll do it tomorrow, because I've had a hard (but successful) day's shopping today and I'm a bit tired.

For you, though, I'll work on Christmas Eve. How's that for devotion?

You're wonderful.

I've stuck a really nice quote I found right at the beginning.

Hi GB,

I've just been having another look at the Entry, and while I can't see anything that I'm certain is factually incorrect, there are some sentences in there that are so oddly phrased as to be either misleading or just downright bizarre. Rather than put up a really long, complicated posting, I'm going to suggest some rephrasings section by section in a series of postings. OK?

To begin: everything in the intro and the 'Musical Child' section reads OK except for this rather odd line under the 'Magical Mystery Tour' subheader: 'They were often to be found at each other's houses, tinkering with their creative talent, becoming so close they would sometimes complete each other's work.'

For one thing: is it just me, or does that read like innuendo implying a gay relationship? For another, to 'tinker with their creative talent', they'd surely have to be doing something rather drastic to each other's minds. Actually, I suspect that the young Lennon and McCartney were probably just playing a bit of music together and experimenting with writing songs.

So, instead, how about: 'They were often to be found at each other's houses, playing music and working on new songs together.'