Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
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A-side “Band on the Run”
Released 28 June 1974 Format 7″ single
Recorded September 1973
Genre Symphonic rockart rock Length 5:29
Label Apple Records
Songwriter(s) Paul McCartneyLinda McCartney
“Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” (sometimes written as “1985”) is a song by Paul McCartney and Wings, released as the final track on the 1973 album Band on the Run. It has been featured on the 2001 documentary DVD Wingspan and Paul McCartney and Wings’ 1974 TV special One Hand Clapping. A 2016 remix of the song was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Lyrics and music
Paul McCartney, the writer of “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five”, 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.
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. Author Andrew Grant Jackson calls the lyrics “gibberish” and mere placeholders for the excitement and “cinematic purpose” of the music.” The song has a grandiose ending with a full orchestra and the band. Other instrumentation includes mellotron, organ and horns. The album version ends with an excerpt of the opening song’s chorus. This song is featured on several episodes of Trigger Happy TV. In its early life, it was simply titled “Piano Thing”.
Personnel
Paul McCartney – lead vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, keyboards, drums
Linda McCartney – backing vocals, keyboards
Denny Laine – vocals, guitar
Tony Visconti – orchestrations
Live performances “Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” was never performed live by Wings. McCartney performed the song live for the first time ever during his 2010–11 Up and Coming Tour. He played the song live again during his 2011–12 On the Run Tour, his 2013–15 Out There Tour, his 2016–2017 One on One Tour, his 2018-19 Freshen Up tour and at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia