Written by: McCartney
Recorded: 1992, 2020
Producers: Paul McCartney, George Martin
Released: 18 December 2020
Available on:
McCartney III
Personnel
Paul McCartney: vocals, acoustic guitar, bass guitar, harmonium, Mellotron, percussion
‘Winter Bird/When Winter Comes’ is the final track on McCartney III, Paul McCartney’s 18th solo album.
Like I said at the start, Winter Bird was the reason I went in the studio first of all to do a little bit for the opening titles of a short film #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
There’s nothing on that track – it’s just me – but I made a track called ‘Calico Skies’ a while ago [for the 1997 album Flaming Pie], which George [Martin] produced. And at the same time, because I was in the studio and had an extra minute or so, I had this other song, so I said, ‘let me knock this one off.’ That was ‘When Winter Comes’, and I mention George because it was on a George Martin produced session, but is just me on the guitar. It was nearly going to be a bonus extra that was going to be on a reissue of Flaming Pie, but I’d just been reading that great book on Elvis, Last Train To Memphis, and it mentioned a song and said you’ve probably never heard it because it was buried as a bonus on the B-side of an album. So I thought, no, I’d rather have this one as a proper track. And we finished the album with it because it was the reason for doing the whole thing, because me and my mate Geoff Dunbar, who’s an animation director, were talking about making an animated film to that song. So that’s where the opening and closing tracks come from, which got me into the studio in the first place.
loudandquiet.com
The music I was working on was for a short animation film about the song When Winter Comes so this is all full circle! Now I’d come from the beginning of the album to the end, so we have the song that had started the whole thing #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
In late 2020 McCartney said that ‘Winter Bird/When Winter Comes’ was inspired by the months in the early 1970s when he retreated to his farm in Scotland to escape from the soured business at Apple.
It’s me, remembering that period and writing a song from the point of view of that man, making a home for his family in the countryside. That’s what I used to do. Paint the roof, fix the drains, fix the fence, whatever. I know a lot of people these days are getting into that. It’s very satisfying. In my case, the horror was how heavy The Beatles’ situation had become, but for a lot of people these days it’s the horror of what’s going on with the world – particularly this year with Covid. I just want to plant some vegetables for my family and see them grow. I got very ambitious [in 1970]. I made a kitchen table. I’m incredibly proud of it.
Uncut, January 2021
I made a record called Calico Skies a while ago that George Martin recorded, and at the same time because I was in the studio, I just thought oh wait a minute there’s this other song I’ve just written, so I did When Winter Comes! #TimsTwitterListeningParty #McCartneyIII
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) December 21, 2020
An animated video for ‘Winter Bird/When Winter Comes’ was uploaded to YouTube on 22 December 2020. Directed by Geoff Dunbar, it also featured an instrumental piece titled ‘Winter Sun’.
I rediscovered this song [‘When Winter Comes’] in 2019 when I was listening to old demos for the Flaming Pie archive release. It felt special, so I pulled it out and worked on it for a short video of the song at my recording studio in the first pandemic-related UK lockdown of 2020. It actually ended up inspiring what became the McCartney III album.
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present
Heard the leaked 1990s version on Reddit today. Managed to download it before it gets taken down like the ones on YouTube earlier today. I don’t know if the album version will slightly update it, record it again entirely, or just put it on there the way it is, but it sounds beautiful. Strong Heart of The Country vibes. It has a awesome opening guitar solo that’s the same as the one we hear in the McCartney lll trailer, but the 90s version is a little bit slower and slightly less rock and edge (leading me to believe the McCartney lll will have an updated version of the song). Awesome opening, but a little out of place and misleading to the tone if the rest of the song. Kinda jarring going from that to the nice and slow melody that pursues for the next few minutes (90s is 3:08 long with a 25 sec opening). Don’t know how to describe it other than it reminded me of a less upbeat and slower version of Heart of The Country (though that is no insult to the originality or beauty of the music- it just crossed my mind). Maybe a slight resemblance to Here Comes the Sun? In terms of overall tone and tempo. Either way, like almost all of Paul’s songs, it is extraordinarily beautiful and heartfelt in a way to where it’s bound to many people’s favorite song of all time. Obviously I’m no audiophile or musician. I know Jack crap about music. I’m just a 17 year old kid that likes to listen to a 50 year old rock band. Take care
It’s a solid piece of work. Except for maybe 1-2 tracks, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire album. Paul’s really something else. 78 and the man’s showing no signs of slowing down.
(I’m like 20 too lol. Paul’s music and The Beatles are timeless though)
does anyone have any more info on “winter sun”? i wonder why it doesnt feature on the album?
No wonder his voice sounds so good on this track. It was recorded 20 years ago when he could still sing.
Julio, Paul still can sing. It is only different because, as you should know, he is an old man. It happens to some old people. But he can sing because he is not out of tune and reaches the right notes. To say a voice from an old person means he can’t sing it being very disrespectful to older people. Gosh, what an ugly thing you wrote.