"Paperback Writer", from 1966, is a bass-heavy non-love song by Paul McCartney, who was encouraged by an aunt to write "a single that wasn't a love song". Lennon had some influence on the lyrics, as Wikipedia mentions:
The song's lyrics are in the form of a letter from an aspiring author addressed to a publisher. The author badly needs a job and has written a paperback version of a book by a "man named Lear." This is a reference to the Victorian painter Edward Lear, who wrote nonsense poems and songs of which Lennon was very fond (though Lear never wrote novels).
The article mentions that "the backing vocals during this section are from the French children's song "Frère Jacques". In addition, McCartney apparently wanted to create a song that remained on a single chord; with "Paperback Writer", he almost accomplishes that goal. It stays on G until the end of the verse, where it briefly touches on C.
I love this song; the bass is devastating (and was cranked up by engineer Geoff Emerick so as to be much louder than normal) and I love the vocals and the background harmonies. It's incredibly catchy, plus I'm a big fan of books and writing so "Paperback Writer" had a head-start with me from the get-go. :P
That's it for yesterday's tune... Today's song is coming up!
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Heard It Tally: 51
Songs Completed: 202
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