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Released in 1983

Average Person

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on May 10, 2020

Album This song officially appears on the Pipes Of Peace Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1983

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1980, when Paul McCartney was 38 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related interview

“Average Person” is a track from 1983 album “Pipes Of Peace“. It was written in 1980, demoed with Wings in late 1980 during one of their latest sessions together, and recorded during the Montserrat sessions in February 1981.

“Average Person” is another of your story songs, like “Eleanor Rigby” and “Penny Lane”. What prompted you to start writing that kind of song in the first place?

I think a lot of them, besides “Eleanor Rigby”, tend to be comedy. It’s me doing the tongue-in-cheek thing, whereas “Eleanor Rigby” was more serious. I think that’s why it was more successful. I’ve still got a few that I haven’t released because I don’t think they are that good. It’s quite a fun thing to do, to just dream up a name of a character and just try and write the story of that character and then make it fit with another character. “Eleanor Rigby”, I did it with Father McKenzie and Eleanor. With some of these, I try and make too many fit. They’re not always the most successful.

Paul McCartney interview, UNCUT, October 2015

Both “Tug Of War” and “Pipes Of Peace” were always envisaged as albums amounting to more than simply a collection of songs, Paul has already explained the themes of each album, but originally both he and George Martin saw them shaping up as complete productions, utilising sound effects, creating visual vignettes on record. George Martin recalled a couple of occasions when they tried to create that effect: “We actually thought of ‘Average Person’ as being a stagey sort of thing — at one time we thought of making the album sound like a stage production – It was Paul’s idea, that theatrical aspect. We even tried him doing the vocal like a stage — I lined up a lot of mikes, and he actually did a funny walk on ‘l say, I say…’ kind of thing…“

Paul: “On ‘Average Person,’ we were trying to get the live show thing, more as if you were watching a picture, rather than just listening to a song, so we put a lot of sound effects to match the things. It was quite a production!“

From Club Sandwich N° 31, 1983

Lyrics

Look at the average person

Speak to the man in the street

Can you imagine the first one you'd meet?

Well, I'm talking to a former engine driver

Trying to find out what he used to do

Tells me that he always kept his engine

Spit and polished up as good as new

But he said his only great ambition

Was to work with lions in a zoo

Oh to work with lions in a zoo

Yes dear, you heard right

Told me his ambition was to work with lions every night

Look at the average person

Speak to the man on the beat

Can you imagine the first one you'd meet?

Well, I met a woman working as a waitress

I asked exactly what it was she did

Said she worked the summer crowd at seasides

Winter time she ran away and hid

Once she had a Hollywood audition

But the part was given to a kid.

Yes, the part was given to a kid

Yes sir, you heard it right

Hollywood ambition made a starlet grown up overnight

Well I bumped into a man who'd been a boxer

Asked him what had been his greatest night

He looked into the corners of his memory

Searching for a picture of the fight.

But he said he always had a feeling

That he lacked a little extra height

(Could have used a little extra height)

Yes mate, you heard it right

He always had a feeling that he might have lacked a little height.

Look at the average person

Speak to the man in the queue

Can you imagine the first one is you?

Look at the average person

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Average Person”

Live performances

Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.

Going further

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present

"Average Person" is one of the songs featured in the book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present," published in 2021. The book explores Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, his time with the Beatles, Wings, and his solo career. It pairs the lyrics of 154 of his songs with his first-person commentary on the circumstances of their creation, the inspirations behind them, and his current thoughts on them.

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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.

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Paul McCartney writing

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Notice any inaccuracies on this page? Have additional insights or ideas for new content? Or just want to share your thoughts? We value your feedback! Please use the form below to get in touch with us.

Gianluca • 6 years ago

In this song backing vocals are also by Denny Laine .

You can clearly heard him expecially tobthe end

The PaulMcCartney Project • 6 years ago

Thanks Gianluca - will fix this ! Much work for me to do on "Pipes Of Peace". Pages still pretty empty at this stage :(

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