Angry (song)

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Album This song officially appears on the Press To Play Official album.

Timeline This song has been officially released in 1986

Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1985 (Paul McCartney was 43 years old)

Song facts

“Angry” is a song from 1986 album “Press To Play“.

From The Beatles Rarity:

[…] This week’s Beatles Rarity Of The Week, a fast paced rocker Paul wrote with Eric Stewart titled “Angry,” includes Pete Townshend on guitar, Phil Collins on drums, and is mixed for the album by Hugh Padgham. However, the version that appears on the Pretty Little Head maxi single is a mix by Larry Alexander that features additional horns and a punchier sound than the album version. Those of you only familiar with the standard version on Press To Play will likely find this ‘angrier’ version quite interesting. The Pretty Little Head maxi single was released on October 27, 1986 on vinyl only, and has never been made available on an official CD or authorized download media. […]

From “Club Sandwich 42 – Autumn 1986“:

A highly publicised song, due to its uncharacteristic belligerence and the presence of Pete Townshend and Phil Collins. “That’s me being pretty straightforward, although there is a crazy synth thing on there. The backing track is me, Phil and Pete, which is a nice little rhythm section!… I’d kept in touch with Pete after ‘Rockestra’ and Live Aid.. .There’s a chord riff… and every time I played it I felt like Pete Townshend!… It actually only took two hours to get that track down, which is incredibly quick these days.. .What makes me angry are things like Thatcher’s attitude to the blacks in South Africa… People who burn children with cigarettes. That sort of thing makes me angry — not bad reviews of my albums.” McCartney is percussing away again here and his galvanising bass line recalls the heyday of Tamla Motown.

Club Sandwich No 42 Autumn 1986

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Eric Stewart, from CultureSonar, December 3, 2018:

When we started [recording Press To Play], we had John Kelly engineering before Hugh. The first thing we recorded was “Angry.” Paul had these great lyrics “What the hell gives the right to tell me what to do with my life?” I played a really good, heavy guitar riff to that. That night, Gloria picks up the phone and Paul tells her I’m a “fucking genius”… I thought it would carry on, but Padgham screwed it. He said he’d walk away if he didn’t produce it himself, so Paul let me go. That was very sad. Much later on, he did apologize, saying he got it wrong too.
Eric Stewart

Eric Steward, about the production of “Press To Play”:

God knows what happened, but by the time it was finished there were four producers involved and they’d messed up those songs, like ‘Angry’, totally changed them, a great song called ‘Stranglehold’, which was a beautiful song we’d written together, buggered it all up with blipping saxes going all the way through the verses
Eric Steward, 2017, from FarOut Magazine

The session for ‘Angry’ with Phil and Pete Townshend was memorable: done on a Saturday afternoon, very quick.
Hugh Padgham, Club Sandwich N°42, Autumn 1986

From the “Press To Play” sleeve – These coloured diagrams by Paul show the position of the voices and instruments in the mix of each track.

Last updated on May 4, 2020

Lyrics

What the hell gives you the right to tell me what to do with my life
Especially when you made a mess of every chance you had of success.
Look at you…Just look at you, I said I'm angry just looking at you.

I'm sick and tired of sitting back and listening
To all of your clap-trap.
If you could get me to take the rap I guarantee
You'd leave me with a backslap.
Push me to the left, push me to the right,
Try to take me out of the way.
Even if you kick me off the edge of the world,
You're still going to hear me say…

What the hell gives you the right to tell me what to do with my life
Especially when you made a mess of every chance you had of success.
Look at you…Just look at you, I said I'm angry just looking at you.

Shouting down again mahama. Shouting down again.
Shouting down again mahama. Shouting down again.
I can't begin to tell you all the reasons
Why you're making me crazy.
I've got so many answers.
Like you're stupid, like you're crooked,
Like you're lazy.
Hit me with your left, hit me with your right,
Hit me from the top to the toe.
Even when you chew me up and spit me out,
I'm still going to want to know.

What the hell gives you the right to tell me what to do with my life
Especially when you made a mess of every chance you had of success.
Look at you…Just look at you, I said I'm angry just looking at you.

Shouting down again mahama. Shouting down again.
Shouting down again mahama. Shouting down again…

What the hell gives you the right?