This March witnessed the release of Paul McCartney’s new album, ‘Teddy Boy.’ On the other hand, one of his classics, ‘Live and Let Die,’ quietly reached its 50th anniversary this year. In honor of the occasion, he sat down for a conversation with paulmccartney.com, delving into the backstory of the song.
When asked about whether the song was more like a James Bond track or a part of his live set to him, the former Beatle explained its birth by saying:
“I think it’s a bit of bit of both. It felt like an important historical thing, writing a Bond song. The idea was suggested to me by Ron Cass, who was a guy who ran Apple Records at the time. He said, ‘Have you ever considered doing a Bond film?’ And I said, ‘Well, I would. But no one has asked!’. So, he spoke to the film’s producers, and then they came back and gave me the title ‘Live and Let Die.'”
Revealing how long it took to come up with the track, he continued:
“I went away and started thinking about that phrase. To me, obviously, what happens is you think of the usual saying, ‘Live and let live.’ And then think about how you’re going to get to the opposite, which is, ‘live and let die.’ It was a little conundrum, but I enjoy those; it’s like putting together a short story or something. I got the book the film was going to be based on, read it, and did the song the next day.
Ever since then, we’ve played it in our live shows, and we have these big pyrotechnic explosions that make people jump. Because of that, I now think of it as this big performance piece, and I do enjoy shocking people with the first bang! So, it’s definitely taken on a new meaning for me beyond the Bond film.”
At another point in the interview, McCartney stirred laughter with a tale from an unforgettable live performance:
“In the early days of doing it with all the explosions, I remember this very old lady at the front. At a guess, I’d maybe say she was ninety or something. She was loving the show, and I’d started singing the opening lines of the song, ‘When you were young, and your heart was an open book…’
But then I looked at her and thought, ‘Oh God! We’re going to kill her! What do we do?’ I carried on and got to the crucial bit, ‘Say live and let die,’ and… Boom! The explosions went off. I sheepishly looked over, expecting the worst, and she was going, ‘Yeah!’ She was loving it! So, we didn’t kill her; we thrilled her!“
Originally performed by Wings to be used in the 1973 James Bond movie, ‘Live and Let Die’ has been covered by many singers over the years. It was also included in collections such as Paul’s 2022 ‘The 7″ Singles Box.’ A clearer version of the song will stream in Dolby Atmos on all supporting platforms this week.
