10 Incredible Paul McCartney Songs You’ve Never Heard
3. The Lovers That Never Were (Original Demo)
The Lovers That Never Were is a pleasant enough album track from McCarney’s 1993 album Off The Ground. Its uncharacteristically dark words see McCartney address some unrequited love, bargaining and pleading with increasing desperation. He starts by saying he’ll always be there for her, ends by saying, “if we can’t be lovers we’ll never be friends.”
The song is a product of the collaboration with Elvis Costello that produced So Like Candy, Veronica, My Brave Face and others. Despite a strong lyric, The Lovers doesn’t particularly stand out in that company. It’s an intriguing lyric lost in a pedestrian arrangement.
However, check out the original demo, a stark recording with Paul and Elvis singing together at the piano. It’s a revelation and, from the opening doomy piano chord, feels like an entirely different song. As the protagonist unravels a full throated Macca sounds positively unhinged.
It’s an absolutely stellar vocal, over a decade since his prime as a singer but still capable of a breathtaking performance.
A second demo is more polished and restrained but still tramples all over the mediocre Off The Ground version, which comes off rather flat by comparison. The full McCartney/Costello album is one of rock music’s big missed opportunities but at least we have the demos.