History YMMV / PaulMcCartney

** "The moon is right!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]A common {{mondegreen}} of the opening line of "Wonderful Christmastime", which in actuality is supposed to say "the moo'''d''' is right." The fact that the mishearing sounds perfectly in-line with Paul's trademark lyrical eccentricity allowed it to rapidly catch on, leading to, among other things, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt0dflSPD5o an edit]] of "Wonderful Christmastime" where every line is replaced with a pitch-shifted copy of "the moon is right" (even altering the line to say "moon" instead of "mood").[[/labelnote]]

* There exists a metric ton of bootleg McCartney recordings -namely tracks Macca himself - at one point or another - considered for official release before going back and forth on the idea several times, all together shelving what could've been potential big name hits for himself.

- Of particular note amongst these bootlegs are "Wings' Last Flight" - fanmade recordings of Wings' last ever concerts in Glasgow, December 1979, and "Cold Cuts" - an actual album of Wings & solo McCartney outtakes that Macca himself had intended for release several times throughout the '70s and'80s, before abandoning the project altogether.

- Supposedly slated for release sometime during 1987 (coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"), "Return to Pepperland" featured McCartney teaming up with Phil Ramone (famed producer for Billy Joel) to record a slew of new tracks to help coincide with the then-recent "Second Wave of Beatlemania" (all 12 of the original Beatles' albums were released sometime throughout 1987, marking a second age of international popularity and acclaim for the Fab Four).
- Some of the tracks recorded include "Once Upon a Long Ago" and a heavily drum machine-synth version of "Beautiful Night", originally submitted for the soundtrack to "The Princess Bride", but rejected by director Rob Reiner for being "too sentimental" - they were eventually, in one form or another - released. The former was included as a single issued with McCartney's 1987 compilation album "All the Best!", while "Beautiful Night" was rewritten and stripped down of it's very heavy late-80s Power Ballad sound, and included on Paul's 1997 album "Flaming Pie" as a particular standout.
- Other songs recorded during the 1986-87 sessions include the instrumental "Squid" (quite possibly a contender for the most epic instrumental Macca ever composed and recorded), and the "Smooth Criminal"-esque "P.S, Love Me Do" - a mashup of two early Beatlemania hits - "Love Me Do" and "P.S, I Love You". The latter was eventually released as a track on the Japanese release of 1989's "Flowers in the Dirt".

* Arguably, Macca's unreleased output is as every bit rocking and danceable as his actual released material - just take a listen to "Cage"https://youtu.be/gsvcv7vjt-g - a track once considered to be amongst the final track listing on Wings' final album (1979's "Back to the Egg"), but was rejected at the last minute, supposedly as it's upbeat and relatively light-hearted sound didn't mesh well with the "serious & heavy" sounding material of the actual record itself.

** "The moon is right!"[[labelnote:Explanation]]A common {{mondegreen}} of the opening line of "Wonderful Christmastime", which in actuality is supposed to say "the moo'''d''' is right." The fact that the mishearing sounds perfectly in-line with Paul's trademark lyrical eccentricity allowed it to rapidly catch on, leading to, among other things, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt0dflSPD5o an edit]] of "Wonderful Christmastime" where every line is replaced with a pitch-shifted copy of "the moon is right."[[/labelnote]]

* MemeticMutation: "Temporary Secretary" has become one among not only Macca fans, but the music community as a whole, due to the fact that it's widely considered one of Paul's absolute ''worst'' songs. While the rest of ''[=McCartney II=]'' has been thoroughly VindicatedByHistory, "Temporary Secretary" is a common subject of jokes for how hectically disjointed it sounds, to the point where it's a minor RunningGag among the remix group Music/SiIvaGunner (alongside jokes intentionally misnaming the song "Jerry Temporary" after a [=YouTube=] comment).

* AmericansHateTingle: "Mull of Kintyre" was one of [=McCartney=]'s biggest solo hits, a smash all over the world, except for the U.S.A., where it was ignored [[note]]other than a tiny bit of airplay on Adult Contemporary stations[[/note]]. His US label, figuring that your average American would have no idea what the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mull_of_Kintyre Mull of Kintyre]] was and thus wouldn't care about the song, promoted the single's B-Side ("Girls' School") instead.

* EpilepticTrees: Once upon a time, there was a common conspiracy theory saying he actually died in the '60s and a {{Doppelganger}} took his place, an event believed to be alluded to in some of Music/TheBeatles' works and album covers. This makes very little sense when you consider that the doppelgänger needs to do a perfect UsefulNotes/{{Liverpool}} accent and play the guitar like he did. And Paul is ''left''-handed. The conspiracy ultimately fell apart as the decades went on, and Paul himself would repeatedly take jabs at it, most notably with the title and cover for ''Paul is Live'' in 1993.

** "When I'm Sixty Four" is one as well, if you think of it as Paul addressing Linda. [[TearJerker Linda never did get to see Paul turn sixty-four]][[labelnote:*]]Linda in fact never did get to turn sixty-four ''herself'', passing away at 56[[/labelnote]] (nor Heather Mills due to their divorce), as many journalists pointed out in 2006. Heather actually broke up with him ''just before he turned 64'', leading to a lot of BigNo jokes.

* EpilepticTrees: There's a common conspiracy theory saying he actually died in the '60s and a {{Doppelganger}} took his place, an event believed to be alluded to in some of Music/TheBeatles' works and album covers. This makes very little sense when you consider that the doppelgänger needs to do a perfect UsefulNotes/{{Liverpool}} accent and play the guitar like he did. And Paul is ''left''-handed.
* FairForItsDay: [=McCartney=] was in {{blackface}} for portions of the video for "Say, Say, Say". Even though it was appropriate for the context of the video (he and Music/MichaelJackson were depicted as performing a minstrel show late in the video), even with that it probably wouldn't fly today.

** The video to "Say Say Say" is kind of harsh to watch because of the infectious chemistry Paul and Michael Jackson had in both the song and the video, considering a few years later they would have a bitter falling out over Jackson buying the Beatles catalog.

* CultClassic: ''[=McCartney=] II'' is this for a lot of fans. He knocked it off by himself in a month, partly as a way to test his new synthesisers, while Music/{{Wings}} was preparing what would be its final tour, and it was released to what had become predictably negative reviews. In the early 2010s was when it began to be hailed as a precursor to a lot of modern indie pop, and it now sounds like one of his freshest, quirkiest and most interesting albums.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Flowers in the Dirt'' is considered this to ''Press to Play'' by critics, who felt the latter came off as WereStillRelevantDammit.

** This applies to Paul as a whole after Music/TheBeatles broke up. Back in the day he was less popular than Music/JohnLennon and Music/GeorgeHarrison critically, [[CriticalDissonance yet his albums kept selling]]. Partly a case of ItsPopularNowItSucks Also a case of TrueArtIsAngsty, as Paul was unapologetically writing SillyLoveSongs while John and George were dealing with (allegedly) weightier subjects. In later years, this began to wear off, and not only have Paul's musical contributions been revalued upwards -- he was the most cosmopolitan Beatle, and the one who first investigated avant-garde art and music -- his solo work has been reevaluated too.

** ''Press To Play'' is also accused of this, containing gratuitous [[TheEighties '80's]] production (courtesy of Hugh Padgham) and synths/drum machines.

* CultClassic: ''[=McCartney=] II'' is this for a lot of fans. He knocked it off by himself in a month, partly as a way to test his new synthesisers, while Wings was preparing what would be its final tour, and it was released to what had become predictably negative reviews. In the early 2010s was when it began to be hailed as a precursor to a lot of modern indie pop, and it now sounds like one of his freshest, quirkiest and most interesting albums.

* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: ''Flowers in the Dirt'' is considered this to ''Press to Pray'' by critics, who felt the latter came off as WereStillRelevantDammit.

** This applies to Paul as a whole after Music/TheBeatles broke up. Back in the day he was less popular than Music/JohnLennon and Music/GeorgeHarrison critically, [[CriticalDissonance yet his albums kept selling]]. Partly a case of ItsPopularNowItSucks Also a case of TrueArtIsAngsty, as Paul was unapologetically writing SillyLoveSongs while John and George were dealing with (allegedly) weightier subjects. In later years, this began to wear off, and not only have Paul's musical contributions been revalued upwards -- he was the most cosmopolitan Beatle, and the one who first investigated avant-garde art and music -- his solo work has been revaluated too.

* WereStillRelevantDammit: He got accused of this when he released the disco-infused "Goodnight Tonight" in 1979.

** "When I'm Sixty Four" is one as well, if you think of it as Paul addressing Linda. [[TearJerker Linda never did get to see Paul turn sixty-four]] (nor Heather Mills due to their divorce), as many journalists pointed out in 2006. Heather actually broke up with him ''just before he turned 64'', leading to a lot of BigNo jokes.

* YokoOhNo: Ironically, considering the TropeNamer, Linda [=McCartney=] is a pretty good example of this trope, especially her dubious contributions as a performer and songwriter in Music/{{Wings}}. Her standing with the fans improved significantly following her death and Paul's failed marriage to Heather Mills. To be fair, Paul was the one who pushed Linda into joining his band, and she always admitted she wasn't that good. She was a photographer, not a musician.

** ''Press To Play'' is also accused of this, containing gratuitous [[The1980s '80's]] production (courtesy of Hugh Padgham) and synths/drum machines.

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* AmericansHateTingle: "Mull of Kintyre" was one of [=McCartney=]'s biggest solo hits, a smash all over the world, except for the U.S.A., where it was ignored [[note]]other than a tiny bit of airplay on Adult Contemporary stations[[/note]]. His US label, figuring that your average American would have no idea what the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mull_of_Kintyre Mull of Kintyre]] was and thus wouldn't care about the song, promoted the single's B-side ("Girls' School") instead.

* EpilepticTrees: There's a common conspiracy theory saying he actually died in the '60s and a doppelgänger took his place, an event believed to be alluded to in some of Music/TheBeatles' works and album covers. This makes very little sense when you consider that the doppelgänger needs to do a perfect Liverpool accent and play the guitar like he did. And Paul is ''left''-handed.
* FairForItsDay: [=McCartney=] was in {{blackface}} for portions of the video for "Say, Say, Say". Even though it was appropriate for the context of the video (he and Jackson were depicted as performing a minstrel show late in the video), even with that it probably wouldn't fly today.

* EpilepticTrees: There's a common conspiracy theory saying he actually died in the '60s and a doppelgänger took his place, an event believed to be alluded to in some of Music/TheBeatles' works and album covers. This makes very little sense when you consider that the doppelgänger needs to do a perfect Liverpool accent and play the guitar like he did. And he was left-handed.

%% NOTE: The below entries are all "Zero Context Examples", and in the case of the second entry, it's also "Weblinks Are Not Examples". Please expand with more context before un-commenting.
%%* MemeticMutation:
%%** Paul is Dead!
%%** [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/who-is-paul-mccartney Who is Paul McCartney?]], much to the chagrin and [[BerserkButton outrage]] of millions of music fans worldwide.
%%** The inexplicable rise of "Temporary Secretary" to memehood. Maybe we have WebVideo/Mega64 to thank for that.
%%* SignatureSong: "Maybe I'm Amazed".

** ''Music/McCartney'' and ''Music/{{Ram}}'' were largely panned when first released (even {{Music/Ringo|Starr}} hated ''Ram''). These days they are considered among Paul's finest post-Beatles records.

%%* EarWorm: A master of the art.

* YokoOhNo: Ironically, considering the TropeNamer, Linda [=McCartney=] is a pretty good example of this trope, especially her dubious contributions as a performer and songwriter in Music/{{Wings}}. Her standing with the fans improved significantly following her death and Paul's failed marriage to Heather Mills. Admittedly, Paul was the one who pushed Linda into joining his band, and she always admitted she wasn't that good. She was a photographer, not a musician.

* YokoOhNo: Ironically, considering the TropeNamer, Linda [=McCartney=] is a pretty good example of this trope, especially her dubious contributions as a performer and songwriter in Music/{{Wings}}. Her standing with the fans improved significantly following her death and Paul's failed marriage to Heather Mills.
** To be fair, Paul was the one who pushed Linda into joining his band, and she always admitted she wasn't that good. She was a photographer, not a musician.

** This applies to Paul as a whole after Music/TheBeatles broke up. Back in the day he was less popular than Music/JohnLennon and Music/GeorgeHarrison critically, [[CriticalDissonance yet his albums kept selling]]. Partly a case of ItsPopularNowItSucks. Also a case of TrueArtIsAngsty, as Paul was unapologetically writing SillyLoveSongs while John and George were dealing with (allegedly) weightier subjects. In later years, this began to wear off, and not only have Paul's musical contributions been revalued upwards -- he was the most cosmopolitan Beatle, and the one who first investigated avant-garde art and music -- his solo work has being revaluated too.

** This applies to Paul as a whole after Music/TheBeatles broke up. Back in the day he was less popular than Music/JohnLennon and Music/GeorgeHarrison critically, [[CriticalDissonance yet his albums kept selling]]. Partly a case of ItsPopularNowItSucks. Also a case of TrueArtIsAngsty, as Paul was unapologetically writing SillyLoveSongs while John and George were dealing with (allegedly) weightier subjects.

* TheScrappy: Paul seemed to be this among the four Beatles critically, [[CriticalDissonance yet his albums kept selling]]. Partly a case of ItsPopularNowItSucks. Also a case of TrueArtIsAngsty, as Paul was unapologetically writing SillyLoveSongs while Music/JohnLennon and Music/GeorgeHarrison were dealing with (allegedly) weightier subjects. As time goes by, this trope is wearing off and not only is [=McCartney=]'s contribution being revalued upwards -- he was the most cosmopolitan Beatle, and the one who first investigated avant-garde art and music -- his solo work is being reevaluated too.