10 Great Paul McCartney Solo Songs You Need To Listen To Right Now
7. Here Today (Tug Of War - 1982)
Oh, lord, this one.
On 8 December 1980, Paul’s life and the lives of millions of music fans around the world were changed forever. Paul’s former song-writing partner and friend, John Lennon, was shot and killed in New York City by a lone gunman, Mark Chapman. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Roosevelt Hospital at the age of just 40.
Paul received word of John’s death midway through a recording session for his latest album and abandoned the project upon the news of Lennon’s murder. Two months later, he returned to the studio to record what would be his fourth solo album, the much-acclaimed Tug Of War.
On that album, alongside duets with Carl Perkins and Stevie Wonder, Paul included 'Here Today', his bittersweet tribute to Lennon.
The song is beautiful in its simplicity; Paul is joined by just an acoustic guitar, a string quartet and the spirit of Lennon, hanging heavily in the air of this brutally frank obituary. Paul himself admits that he cried whilst writing the song and even cries from time to time performing the song live.
For all the fighting and bickering, all the lawsuits and the slanderous songs, Paul and John loved each other and this song, Paul’s final farewell to his greatest partner, proves that without a shadow of a doubt.