| Costello on McCartney: The Partnership "I just got a call, and then we went to a meeting to talk about it. I thought it best to come along prepared, so I brought along these half-finished things, to work on as sort of an exercise, to get to know the technique of each other's work." "He's very practical about songwriting, very formal, funnily enough. People sometimes say he seems to dash them off, but that's not really true. If you don't like what he's singing about, if you think the sentiments are not tough enough or something, then that's a personal thing. I wouldn't say this holds true for every song he's ever written but when we sat down together he wouldn't have any sloppy bits in there. That was interesting." "The ironic part is, if it sounds like he wrote it, I probably did and vice versa. He wanted to do all the ones with lots of words and all on one note, and I'm the one trying to work in the 'Please Please Me' harmony all over the place. It was really fun." "Oh yeah, occasionally, I'd go "Oh, God, it's him. Ooh, it's him." But that was definitely a momentary thing. We used to run into each other quite a lot in the studio in London: When he was doing, like, TUG OF WAR, PIPES OF PEACE, I was doing IbMePdErRoIoAmL and a couple of other records. He's a very personable guy-- he'd always say hello, play Space Invaders, have a cup of coffee. But I wouldn't have said, "Oh, have you met my good friend, Paul McCartney?" So as far as I was concerned, when he called me about working together, it was just fairly out of the blue. " "He's probably one of the most famous people in the world, and I'm exactly the right age to have been a fan. Then there's a certain degree of professional pride, so you're trying to put you point over and justify being asked. Not because he's such a flawless songwriter, but because I like his stuff and I want him to write the best songs-- particularly if I'm involved in writing them! But it didn't get in the way that much." "Obviously he knows I don't write Barry Manilow songs, or there'd be no point. I've got nothing to gain in knowing whether he has a very scanty or comprehensive knowledge. What's important is what we're doing now. The main thing is we're trying to write new songs. We're not trying to write old songs again. Of several things you have to consider, one is that he's been Paul McCartney longer than he was a Beatle. And for that matter, I've been a solo artist longer than the Beatles existed. By four years. So you know, I'm a professional. I don't have as many hit records to my name, but I have as many credentials in terms of writing songs. If he was going to pick anybody to write with, then why not me?" "But it's not always 50-50. You don't have any secretary sitting in the corner taking notes, going, 'Then Mr. McCartney suggested a B-flat minor', you know." A special thanks to Connor Ratliff for compiling this group of quotes. Back to introduction |