10 Songs That Prove Paul McCartney’s Solo Career Is Better Than You Think
8. Smile Away
In aftermath of The Beatles’ break-up Paul McCartney retreated to his farm in Kintyre, stayed in bed all day and drank far too much. His friends had turned against him and he’d lost the band that had shaped and defined his life for over a decade. Meanwhile the press had unfairly pegged him as the villain in the band’s breakup. It hit him hard.
On the surface, Smile Away is a lively but jokey rock’n’roll number, it’s, cutesy backing vocals bordering on pastiche. Underneath the playful facade is a surprisingly personal lyric. At a time when his former band mates were fighting him in court and slagging him off in interviews, he sings about bumping into old friends who throw insults his way.
In the chorus he exhorts himself to “smile away” rather than taking the insults to heart. The backing vocals alternate between “don’t know how to do that” and “learning how to do that.”
The song is McCartney acknowledging he’s been struggling but saying he’s learning how to cope and get through it.