We Got Married

Written by Paul McCartney

Album This song officially appears on the Flowers In The Dirt Official album.
Timeline This song has been officially released in 1989
Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1984 (Paul McCartney was 42 years old)

Related sessions

This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions





Other songs recorded with producer David Foster


I Love This House

Officially appears on Young Boy #1


Lindiana

Unreleased song

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Song facts

We Got Married“, released on “Flowers In The Dirt” in 1989, had been recorded in September / October 1984 with American producer David Foster; and as such was the oldest track on the record, and featured David Gilmour on guitar, and Dave Mattacks on drums. David Foster considered the song to be the weakest of the three songs recorded during those sessions (the other ones being the unreleased Lindiana, and I Love This House); the rough mix is available on the bootleg Pizza And Fairy Tales.

Overdubs were added in …

At some point, it was considered to be issued as a single, and a video had been prepared. It became a regular song in the setlists of The Paul McCartney World Tour in 1989 / 1990.

Paul McCartney in “Club Sandwich 52, Summer 1989“:

It’s like a celebration of marriage… So often people shy away from subjects like marriage… They concentrate on puberty. Well, at the age of 46, puberty’s fairly far away! The game is up, folks!…I do actually start it in puberty: ‘Going fast, coming soon/We made love in the afternoon/Found a flat, after that/ We got married’. That reminds me of John and Cynthia at art school… Dave Gilmour’s on there playing lovely guitar. I like it. It’s kinda grown-up.

Paul McCartney in “Club Sandwich 70, Summer 1991“:

A great song, ‘We Got Married’, for many it was the standout track on Flowers In The Dirt. But it wasn’t a single. It nearly was, but not quite. Capitol considered issuing it in the United States in 1990, when the World Tour was heading back to America for its first venture around the stadiums. Because of this, the label pressed up some promotional CD singles featuring an edited version of the album cut and MPL put together a promotional video. But then minds were changed and something else happened instead.

So the video for ‘We Got Married’ is another of rarities in the McCartney archive: well worth looking at but scarcely seen – hence a prime contender for another look-see in this column.

Directed by Aubrey Powell, produced for Propaganda Films by Steve Swartz and edited by Todd Chestnut (that must be an American name), the ‘We Got Married’ film prominently features in concert and on-stage footage. These terms do have different meanings, incidentally, for, while in the USA, Paul and Band took time out to perform more or less an entire show before a minimal audience, not as an advertised tour date but expressly so that close-ups and other camera angles could be shot for insertion into concert films. Knowing that nothing can irritate an audience as much as cameramen clambering all over the stage, obstructing the view and distracting the concentration, Paul realised it would be a good idea if the director get all of his fancy shots done in a private “mock up” show instead.

Like other films of the same era and ilk, ‘We Got Married’ also shows some off-stage moments: long limousines in the falling rain, fans wielding flowers, flocking to the concert venues and waiting on line outside the arenas, photographers jostling for the best pictures, and, highly appropriately, momentary monochromatic glimpses (from the deservedly popular pre-show film) of Paul and Linda on their wedding day – the silver anniversary of which, it would be remiss of us not to note, was celebrated this year, 1994.

But, as we said, ‘We Got Married’ never came out as a single in the USA. Imagine everyone on the video production team going to all that effort just so that Club Sandwich could review it four years later…

Paul McCartney, in People Music, March 24, 2017:

“It’s a pretty little song, heartfelt. It’s not totally autobiographical but it captures being first married, first in love like Linda and I were. We didn’t get a flat together, little details like that are me as a songwriter just throwing in stuff that feels good. But basically it’s our life story, me and Linda. I have great memories of it, because it reminds me of her. It’s a song about getting married and the thrill of it—the first bloom of that for me is encapsulated in the song. The great thing was Dave Gilmour [of Pink Floyd] agreed to play guitar on it. That was really nice, I thought he did a great job on guitar. Very soulful.”

Last updated on April 29, 2021

The book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present", published in 2021, covers Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, the Beatles, Wings, and solo careers, by pairing the lyrics of 154 of his songs with first-person commentaries of the circumstances in which they were written, the people and places that inspired them, and what he thinks of them now.

"We Got Married" is one of the 154 songs covered.

Lyrics

Going fast, coming soon,
We made love in the afternoon.
Found a flat, after that
We got married.

Working hard for the dream,
Scoring goals for the other team,
Times were bad, we were glad
We got married.

Like the way you open up your hearts to each other,
When you find a meeting of the minds.
Just as well love was all we ever wanted,
It was all we ever had.

Further on in the game,
Waiting up till the children came.
Place your bets, no regrets,
We got married.
We got married.
We got married.

Nowadays every night flashes by
At the speed of light,
Living life, loving wife
We got married.

I love the things that happen
When we start to discover
Who we are
And what we're living for,
Just because love was
All we ever wanted
It was all we ever had.

It's not just a loving machine,
It doesn't work out
If you don't work at it.

Variations


A

A2017 2017 remaster

Officially appears on


Flowers In The Dirt

Official album • Released in 1989

4:57 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
Robbie McIntosh :
Acoustic guitar
Hamish Stuart :
Harmonies
David Gilmour :
Guitar
Dave Mattacks :
Drums
Neil Dorfsman :
Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Chris Witten :
Additional percussion
Jon Jacobs :
Assistant recording engineer
David Foster :
Keyboards, Producer
Guy Barker :
Trumpet
Jon Kelly :
Recording engineer
Noel Harris :
Assistant mixing engineer

Session Recording:
Oct 01, 1984
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Overdubs:
September - November 1988 ?
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Session Overdubs:
Dec 01, 1988
Studio :
AIR Studios, London, UK

Session Mixing:
Jan 26, 1989
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon


Paul McCartney ROCKS

Official album • Released in 1990

4:57 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
Robbie McIntosh :
Acoustic guitar
Hamish Stuart :
Harmonies
David Gilmour :
Guitar
Dave Mattacks :
Drums
Neil Dorfsman :
Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Chris Witten :
Additional percussion
Jon Jacobs :
Assistant recording engineer
David Foster :
Keyboards, Producer
Guy Barker :
Trumpet
Jon Kelly :
Recording engineer
Noel Harris :
Assistant mixing engineer

Session Recording:
Oct 01, 1984
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Overdubs:
September - November 1988 ?
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Session Overdubs:
Dec 01, 1988
Studio :
AIR Studios, London, UK

Session Mixing:
Jan 26, 1989
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon


Tripping the Live Fantastic: Highlights!

Official live • Released in 1990

7:09 • LiveL1

Performed by :
Paul McCartneyLinda McCartneyRobbie McIntoshHamish StuartPaul WickensChris Whitten
Paul McCartney :
Producer
Eddie Klein :
Assistant engineer
Matt Butler :
Assistant engineer
Peter Henderson :
Producer
Bob Clearmountain :
Mixing engineer, Producer
Jeff Cohen :
Recording engineer
Geoff Foster :
Assistant engineer
Scott Hull :
Assistant engineer
George Cowan :
Assistant engineer
Paul Rushbrook :
Assistant engineer

Concert From the concert in London, United Kingdom on Jan 16, 1990


Flowers In The Dirt - Special Package

Official album • Released in 1990

4:57 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
Robbie McIntosh :
Acoustic guitar
Hamish Stuart :
Harmonies
David Gilmour :
Guitar
Dave Mattacks :
Drums
Neil Dorfsman :
Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Chris Witten :
Additional percussion
Jon Jacobs :
Assistant recording engineer
David Foster :
Keyboards, Producer
Guy Barker :
Trumpet
Jon Kelly :
Recording engineer
Noel Harris :
Assistant mixing engineer

Session Recording:
Oct 01, 1984
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Overdubs:
September - November 1988 ?
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Session Overdubs:
Dec 01, 1988
Studio :
AIR Studios, London, UK

Session Mixing:
Jan 26, 1989
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon


Tripping The Live Fantastic

Official live • Released in 1990

6:38 • LiveL1

Performed by :
Paul McCartneyLinda McCartneyRobbie McIntoshHamish StuartPaul WickensChris Whitten
Paul McCartney :
Producer
Eddie Klein :
Assistant engineer
Matt Butler :
Assistant engineer
Peter Henderson :
Producer
Bob Clearmountain :
Mixing engineer, Producer
Jeff Cohen :
Recording engineer
Geoff Foster :
Assistant engineer
Scott Hull :
Assistant engineer
George Cowan :
Assistant engineer
Paul Rushbrook :
Assistant engineer

Concert From the concert in London, United Kingdom on Jan 16, 1990


Flowers In The Dirt (1993)

Official album • Released in 1993

4:57 • Studio versionA

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
Robbie McIntosh :
Acoustic guitar
Hamish Stuart :
Harmonies
David Gilmour :
Guitar
Dave Mattacks :
Drums
Neil Dorfsman :
Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Chris Witten :
Additional percussion
Jon Jacobs :
Assistant recording engineer
David Foster :
Keyboards, Producer
Guy Barker :
Trumpet
Jon Kelly :
Recording engineer
Noel Harris :
Assistant mixing engineer

Session Recording:
Oct 01, 1984
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Overdubs:
September - November 1988 ?
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Session Overdubs:
Dec 01, 1988
Studio :
AIR Studios, London, UK

Session Mixing:
Jan 26, 1989
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon


Flowers In The Dirt - Archive Collection

Official album • Released in 2017

4:57 • Studio versionA2017 • 2017 remaster

Paul McCartney :
Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
Robbie McIntosh :
Acoustic guitar
Hamish Stuart :
Harmonies
David Gilmour :
Guitar
Dave Mattacks :
Drums
Neil Dorfsman :
Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Chris Witten :
Additional percussion
Jon Jacobs :
Assistant recording engineer
David Foster :
Keyboards, Producer
Guy Barker :
Trumpet
Jon Kelly :
Recording engineer
Noel Harris :
Assistant mixing engineer
Sam Okell :
Remastering
Alex Wharton :
Remastering

Session Recording:
Oct 01, 1984
Studio :
Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK

Session Overdubs:
September - November 1988 ?
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Session Overdubs:
Dec 01, 1988
Studio :
AIR Studios, London, UK

Session Mixing:
Jan 26, 1989
Studio :
Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK

Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon

Bootlegs


Pizza And Fairy Tales

Unofficial album • Released in 2000

5:13 • Rough mix


MoMac's Hidden Tracks Vol.18

Unofficial album

5:10 • Studio version





Films


We Got Married

1990 • For Paul McCartney • Directed by Aubrey Powell

Live performances

“We Got Married” has been played in 106 concerts and 4 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where We Got Married has been played







Going further


Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

Shop on Amazon


http://www.wingspan.ru/magazines/cs/cs70/page13.html

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