‘Beautiful Night’ is the penultimate song on Paul McCartney’s tenth solo album Flaming Pie.
The song had one of the longest gestation periods in McCartney’s recording history, with unreleased versions recorded in 1986, 1987, and 1990. See more…
I wrote ‘Beautiful Night’ quite a few years ago, and I’ve always liked it, and people who heard an early recording that I made in New York, with some of Billy Joel’s players, have said that they liked it too. But I always felt that we hadn’t quite ‘pulled it off’ – you know? We had a good evening and a great time but I just didn’t feel that it was the one. Also, I was still changing a few lyrics. So I did it with Ringo instead – I’ve been saying to him for years that we should do some more work together. He’s great.
I sat at the piano and Ringo sat at the drums. It was so comfortable and lovely to work with him again. Jeff Lynne and I produced. Ringo was very happy with it and we tagged on the fast bit at the end, which wasn’t on the original recording.
Ringo came here, to the studio, to do ‘Free As A Bird’ and ‘Real Love’, and brought his kit with him. It sounds great when it’s recorded, the snare, the bass. He then left his kit here, in storage, so I phoned up and ordered exactly the same pieces, and set up my new kit in exactly the same way. In fact, Ringo used my model of his kit for ‘Beautiful Night’.
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7.07am
Moderators
15 February 2015
I found this video on the making of it. It’s a joy to behold– especially about five minutes in.
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12.04pm
27 March 2015
Don’t you mean ‘a wonderful sight (for lovers of love) to behold’?
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Beatlebug, pepperland, Ahhh GirlFormerly Known As JPM-Fangirl -- 2016
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4.11am
23 January 2022
This is my song-on-loop this morning. I noticed this lyric, and laughed out loud:
Things can go wrong, things can go right
Things can go bump, in the dead of the night
So let me be there, let me be there
Let me be there with you in the dead of the night
It’s easy to miss the connection between the second and fourth lines when he’s singing, because of the song construction.
Cheeky Paulie
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sir walter raleighMy hot take is that after the Beatles split they went down the paths of spiritualism, solipsism, alcoholism, and Paul McCartney
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10.46pm
26 January 2017
The change in melody there is so brilliant, i’ve never really looked at that verse in this context. Very interesting he’s not even rhyming but just calling back.
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meaigs, Rube, Richard"The pump don't work cause the vandals took the handles!"
-Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues
"We could ride and surf together while our love would grow"
-Brian Wilson, Surfer Girl
5.36am
3 July 2020
This song is just amazing! I love it. When the second verse get all different I really start to get into the song. a true masterpiece. the whole closing is just great.
and some beatles magic like in that song with Ringo at the drums is always a plus!
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