Tag: Wings

Dustin Hoffman’s Connection to McCartney’s “Picasso’s Last Words”

Picasso's Last Words One of the wonderful songs on the classic 1973 album Band on the Run by Paul McCartney and Wings is “Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me).” Having heard the song many times, I was not too surprised to learn that the song was based on Picasso’s actual last words. But I was amazed to discover that Dustin Hoffman gave McCartney the topic of the song and encouraged the songwriter to write a song about the painter’s last words.

In the video below, both McCartney explain how “Picasso’s Last Words” arose out of Hoffman’s curiosity about the song-writing process. During a dinner party held by Paul and Linda McCartney in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Hoffman asked McCartney how he wrote songs. Then, Hoffman asked McCartney to write a song.

As the two men discussed topics, Hoffman remembered reading about painter Pablo Picasso’s last words in a recent Time magazine. The April 23, 1973 issue featured an article entitled “Pablo Picasso’s Last Days and Final Journey,” wherein it was reported that Picasso had said to his friends, “Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can’t drink anymore.” Then, Picasso went to bed and died in his sleep.

Hoffman, remembering the story, asked McCartney to base a song on those words. And McCartney came up with an excellent song. Below, both Hoffman and McCartney explain how “Picasso’s Last Words” was created.

Below is a video of McCartney and Wings performing “Picasso’s Last Words (Drink to Me),” with lead vocals from both McCartney and Denny Laine, before the group follows up with the song “Richard Cory.”

And that is the story behind the song. For more on “Picasso’s Last Words,” check out the Beatles Bible.

Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo of Pablo Picasso (1904, Paris) by Ricard Canals i Llambí via public domain.

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    Paul McCartney’s New Video for “Band on the Run”

    Band on the Run video

    For this month’s fortieth anniversary of the U.S. release of the single “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney and Wings, McCartney has released a new video for the song. The video, directed and produced by visual artist Ben Ib, creatively uses the lyrics of the video to create images from the song. Check it out.

    The album Band On The Run was recorded during August-October 1973 in EMI Studios, Lagos and AIR Studios, London. It went on to become the most successful album from Wings.

    What is your favorite song from Band on the Run? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Listen to What Paul McCartney Said (and Sang) on “The Colbert Report”

    Last night, Stephen Colbert was absolutely giddy about having Paul McCartney on his show The Colbert Report. During the interview segment, Colbert led McCartney into an interesting discussion about McCartney’s band Wings and his pre-Wings band, The Beatles.

    One of the reasons for the McCartney appearance was to promote a new remastered version of Wings Over America (1976). But some of the most interesting parts of the interview were where McCartney discussed the great Wings album, Band on the Run (1973).

    McCartney also performed five songs during the show: “I’ve Just Seen a Face,” “Hi, Hi, Hi,” “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite,” “Listen to What the Man Said,” and “Lady Madonna.” He also performed a web-exclusive version of “Birthday.” Below is his performance of “Listen to What the Man Said.” [2016 Update: Unfortunately, the videos from the show are no longer available.]

    How did it all fit into the half-hour show? Well, they had to expand The Colbert Report to a half hour to fit it all in, and of course it was worth every minute. You may catch the full episode on The Colbert Report website.

    What is your favorite part of the interview? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Jet!: Man Flies Over Rio With a Jetpack

    jetpack over rio

    Former Swiss fighter pilot Yves Rossy used a winged jetpack to fly over Rio de Janeiro today, reaching speeds up to 186 miles per hour. All I can say, is that it is about time! When I was a kid, I was under the impression we’d all be using jetpacks to travel by now.

    Anyway, Rossy cheated a little because he had to launch from a helicopter and then use a parachute to land. But the video is still pretty cool.

    The 11-minute-and-35-second flight was not Rossy’s first. Rossy, who began working on the project in 1993, flew over the English Channel in 2008 and has also flown over the Grand Canyon. Speaking of wings and jets, it seems the most appropriate music to salute Rossy’s flight is “Jet” by Wings.

    “Jet” is from the excellent album Band on the Run (1974). What is it about? According to Wikipedia, McCartney explained in an interview that it is about a pony he once owned. Well, we have come a long way since the days of traveling by pony. Here’s to my future jetpack, “with the wind in your hair of a thousand laces / Climb on the back and we’ll / Go for a ride in the sky.”

    What do you think of the jetpack flight? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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  • Listen to What Paul McCartney Said (and Sang) on “The Colbert Report”
  • The Latest and Last Beatles Song: “Now and Then”
  • The Song Paul McCartney Wrote for Rod Stewart
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