Paul McCartney: A Solo Journey: One Track Per Solo Album

  1. “Maybe I’m Amazed” McCartney (1970)

The raw, unguarded love song he wrote for Linda; one of the great rock ballads, recorded alone at home just after the Beatles fell apart.

  1. “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” Ram (1971)

A playful, suite-like piece full of left turns and humour, co-written with Linda and their only US number one as a duo.

  1. “Wild Life” Wild Life (1971)

The title track of the first Wings album, recorded almost entirely live in the studio in a deliberate back-to-basics move.

  1. “My Love” Red Rose Speedway (1973)

A sweeping ballad written for Linda, featuring a famous live guitar solo from Henry McCullough that was never rehearsed.

  1. “Band on the Run” Band on the Run (1973)

The title track opens as a jailbreak fantasy and shifts gears twice; one of the most inventive rock structures of the decade.

  1. “Silly Love Songs” Venus and Mars (1975)

A deliberate riposte to critics who accused him of writing fluff; it became one of the biggest hits of 1976 and proved the point.

  1. “Let ‘Em In” Wings at the Speed of Sound (1976)

A brilliantly simple piece of pop built around a doorbell; deceptively slight, utterly irresistible.

  1. “With a Little Luck” London Town (1978)

A buoyant, synth-cushioned optimism song that reached number one on both sides of the Atlantic.

  1. “Rockestra Theme” Back to the Egg (1979)

A thundering instrumental recorded with a cast of rock royalty including John Bonham and Pete Townshend; it won a Grammy.

  1. “Coming Up” McCartney II (1980)

A one-man-band funk workout recorded at home on a four-track; John Lennon reportedly heard it on the radio and was impressed enough to return to writing.

  1. “Tug of War” Tug of War (1982)

The elegiac title track, produced by George Martin and reflecting on the tensions of human ambition with real emotional weight.

  1. “Pipes of Peace” Pipes of Peace (1983)

Built around the Christmas Day 1914 truce on the Western Front, it became a UK Christmas number one and remains one of his most affecting songs.

  1. “No More Lonely Nights” Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984)

A genuinely strong ballad that outlasted the film it came from, with a memorable David Gilmour guitar solo.

  1. “Press” Press to Play (1986)

The lead single from his most underrated album, a crisp piece of mid-80s pop-rock that holds up better than its reputation suggests.

  1. “My Brave Face” Flowers in the Dirt (1989)

Co-written with Elvis Costello in a partnership that energised McCartney considerably; clean, melodic, and utterly confident.

  1. “Hope of Deliverance” Off the Ground (1993)

A gentle acoustic-driven pop song with a folk sensibility, charting a quiet kind of optimism without a hint of bombast.

  1. “The World Tonight” Flaming Pie (1997)

A bright, guitar-led track that shows him sounding entirely at ease; the whole album has the feel of a man who has nothing left to prove.

  1. “From a Lover to a Friend” Driving Rain (2001)

Written in the early stages of his relationship with Heather Mills, it has a looser, more vulnerable quality than most of his work.

  1. “Fine Line” Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005)

The opening track from his most critically praised album in years, produced by Nigel Godrich; quiet, piano-led, and beautifully restrained.

  1. “Dance Tonight” Memory Almost Full (2007)

A mandolin-driven curiosity that became a surprise hit, simple to the point of audacity and somehow impossible to dislike.

  1. “New” New (2013)

The ebullient title track, produced by Mark Ronson, catches him in genuinely youthful form; a reminder that the gift for a hook never left.

  1. “Come On to Me” Egypt Station (2018)

A strutting, good-humoured rock track produced by Greg Kurstin; Egypt Station was his first number one album in the US in 36 years.

  1. “Find My Way” McCartney III (2020)

Another solo home-recording, this one optimistic and punchy, made during lockdown and showing he hadn’t lost the instinct for a great pop melody.

  1. “Days We Left Behind” The Boys of Dungeon Lane (2026)

The lead single from his most personal album, a reflective look back at Liverpool childhoods and pre-fame friendships, co-produced with Andrew Watt.

Monday

still only a name, a date, a point in time.

Go do great things.

Become a Hunter-Gatherer 21C (something I wrote an eternity ago) A complete two score and ten.

  1. Tell stories that fire the imagination.
  2. Cook meals that taste good, are nutritious and use local ingredients.
  3. Notice the weather and predict what is coming next: rain, shine, or snow.
  4. Sleep easily; arise early.
  5. “Warning: before beginning a program of physical inactivity, consult your doctor. Sedentary living is abnormal and dangerous to your health,” Frank Forencich.
  6. Throw high, throw long, throw accurately.
  7. Develop language and brachiate more.
  8. Use eyes for distances beyond the screen: look long, look up.
  9. Experience cold, rain, and wind and re-appreciate warmth.
  10. Pace the seasons.
  11. Remember what is important.
  12. Re-discover fresh herbs.
  13. Notice, observe and sense more.
  14. Stare at the night sky unpolluted by light.
  15. Move: walk, jump, climb, run, squat.
  16. Observe: animals, birds, insects.
  17. Establish rituals: writing, building & crafting, reflecting.
  18. Swim: dive, float, swim a little underwater. Try open water.
  19. Spend time with the tribe: love, frustrations, hugs, laughs and sheer craziness. Plan for winter. Stack logs, of course. Oh, stew the autumn fruit too.
  20. Practise walking along a three-by-four beam. One inch above the ground. One foot above the ground. One yard above the ground. Do not fall off.
  21. No elevators. No escalators. No PPT. No Facebook after the sun sets.
  22. Play ball.
  23. Sleep outside sometimes. Especially with 1, above.
  24. Develop skills with hands: flint spearheads, sure. Bake bread. Make your notebooks.
  25. Keep the cave tidy at all times.
  26. Be self-reliant: learn how it works, from pensions to mowers.
  27. Believe in magic.
  28. Respect Planet Earth and allow it to breathe.
  29. Explore new lands and walk their shores.
  30. Eat fruit, nuts, and seeds.
  31. Spend more days without concrete, plastic, and Wi-Fi.
  32. Draw on your very own cave walls.
  33. Allow a little dirt.
  34. Less gym desperation, more move with life.
  35. Walk barefoot, in the cave and then on increasingly demanding terrains.
  36. Read and share the great sagas. Start with Homer. “The difficulty is not so great to die for a friend but to find a friend worth dying for.”
  37. Live light. Travel lighter. Meditate lightest.
  38. Get thirsty. Drink deep and long.
  39. Use peripheral vision.
  40. “…to construct a narrative one must already live in the world, one must already dwell in the world and, in the dwelling, enter into relationships with its constituent parts, both human and non-human,” Tim Ingold.
  41. Get strong.
  42. Sweat while pacing through the woods and alongside the lakes.
  43. Walk tall; sit tall; listen deep.
  44. Scan the horizon.
  45. Evolve, change, and learn from the masters.
  46. Value wisdom over stuff, stillness over babble, investment over the quick-fix.
  47. “Today, our minds are almost entirely free to choose whatever sensory experience we can imagine; we can and do innovate to heart’s content. But the price we pay is excruciating. Living apart from our habitat will never be a path to health, performance, or spiritual happiness. We need our habitat to make us whole,” Frank Forencich.
  48. Develop mastery.
  49. Build and leave a legacy.
  50. Never let the fire go out.

Cut the Social Grease

There IS a time and place for pleasantries at work, but when we need to focus, let’s focus. Of course, rapport matters; we are social creatures, but it’s easy to overdo the gossip at the expense of both time and clarity.

Be direct and concise: Email: “Quick question: Can we move Thursday’s meeting to 3pm?” Meeting: “Thanks for coming. Let’s review the agenda. Here is what we need to decide today.” Conversation: “I have fifteen minutes. What’s the core issue?”

People value directness paired with courtesy. This is not rude; it shows respect for everyone’s time; you can remain warm and direct.