My Top 1000 Songs #677: Mrs. Vanderbilt

[I've been writing up my Top 1000 songs on a daily basis--you can see them all in descending order by hitting the All My Favorite Songs tag.] 

Obviously, when Paul McCartney puts his heart into it, he can craft one of the greatest pop songs in music history. But a lot of my favorite Macca numbers are the ones where it sounds like he's kinda half-assing it, tossing off some silly lyrics that feel like little personal in-jokes, or maybe placeholders until he circles back with something a little more serious, and STILL comes up with an astoundingly great track. (See also, e.g., "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," "Magneto & Titanium Man").

"Mrs. Vanderbilt," off Wings' 1973 classic Band On The Run, is one of those numbers. The album is considered by many to be his post-Beatles peak (not by me, though, 'cuz Ram!), but while the love (and the radio airplay) is generally directed at the title track and "Jet" and maybe "Helen Wheels," I'm a sucker for this one--it's light and goofy and almost supernaturally catchy, moving at a quick clip with those bouncy shouts of "Hey! Hey Ho!" And for all the goofiness, it still shows McCartney's musical gifts, a dense musical stew with some unexpected chord changes that make it far less simple than its surface amiability may suggest. Plus, it's yet another reminder of his uncanny knack for coming up with distinctive basslines.

Like a lot of his best songs (again--see Ram!), Paul foolishly didn't take this one on the road. He finally debuted it live in 2008--a mere 35-year wait!

Brief acoustic jam during an interview:

You want a cover? How about this?!

How about a Spanish version? You got it!