- Album This song officially appears on the Flaming Pie Official album.
- Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1991 (Paul McCartney was 49 years old)
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
June 1993
Filming of "In The World Tonight"
Feb 20, 1997
Recording "Flaming Pie" EPK #2
Spring 1997 ?
"Working Classical" session for string quartet pieces
February 21-25th, 1999
Mar 20, 2003
Rehearsals for 2010 summer concert
May 19, 2010
Related interviews
"McCartney III" Twitter Listening Party
Dec 21, 2020 • From Tim's Twitter Listening Party
May 2003 • From MOJO
Paul McCartney exclusive interview
June 1997 • From Record Collector
May 27, 1997 • From USA Today
Spread the love! If you like what you are seeing, share it on social networks and let others know about The Paul McCartney Project.
Song facts
“Calico Skies” is the sixth song on Paul McCartney’s 1997 album, Flaming Pie. From the album liner notes:
While it wreaked havoc in the north-east US, the category-three storm Hurricane Bob that made landfall in August 1991 prompted Paul (then staying in Long Island) to sit with an acoustic guitar and write what he describes as “a gentle love song that becomes a sixties protest song”. Paul invited George Martin to co-produce the piece, which-owing to it’s instrumental simplicity-was started, finished and mixed within a single session. The earliest recording on Flaming Pie.
(“Winedark Open Sea“, released on the 1993 “Off The Ground” album, was written during the same August 1991 holidays)
Bob, the hurricane, knocked out all the power; it was all candle-light, cooking on a woodfire. Very primitive, but we like that enforced simplicity. I couldn’t play records, so I made up little acoustic pieces. This was one of them-it’s primitive little powercut memory.
Paul McCartney, from the liner notes of “Flaming Pie”
I wanted to write something acoustic, in the vein of ‘Blackbird’, something that could be recorded without drums or an arrangement. We were in America and Hurricane Bob had knocked out the power for about a week. That caused enforced simplicity: it was primitive and fun and I sat there with an acoustic guitar and wrote ‘Calico Skies’.
Mark Lewisohn, in Club Sandwitch n°82, Summer 1997:
While it wreaked havoc along the north-east US coastline and inland, the category-three storm Hurricane Bob that made landfall in August 1991 happily sparked the creation of ‘Calico Skies’. The McCartneys were on vacation on Long Island when the power went down, and as they welcomed the return of the old pioneer spirit, spending candlelit evenings, cooking over a wood fire and making and receiving visits from neighbours, Paul sat with an acoustic guitar and penned what he’s since described as “a love song that becomes a Sixties protest song, recorded in the vein of’Blackbird’, without drums or an arrangement”. Not entirely suitable, then, for the full-band Off The Ground album taped in 1992, Paul waited until those sessions were over and then invited George Martin to co-produce the piece, which – owing to its instrumental simplicity – was started, finished and mixed within a single session. The tape was then filed away for future use, making it the earliest recording on Flaming Pie.
In 1999, a classical version of “Calico Skies“, interpreted by a string quartet, was released on Working Classical . From the album liner notes:
‘Calico Skies’ is a piece for acoustic guitar that McCartney wrote in America. The unmistakable suggestion of early music is quite deliberate: when he was composing it, McCartney recalled the image of a medieval musician banging away on a tabor.
In 2003, “Calico Skies” was also re-recorded, by Paul McCartney and its touring band, for inclusion on the album Hope which was released to aid victims of the Iraq war.
“Calico Skies” was on the setlist of a few tours, including 2003 Back in the World tour, 2004 summer tour & 2009 summer tour, and during soundchecks.
In 2011, a cover version by Mike Nugent and Nancy Sirloni was released on the album “Let Us In Nashville – A Tribute to Linda McCartney“, consisting of country-themed covers of McCartney songs by various artists. The album was for the benefit of The Women and Cancer Fund.
“Calico Skies” was remastered in 2016 for inclusion on the “Pure McCartney” compilation, and then in 2020 for the “Flaming Pie Archive Collection“, both times by engineer Alex Wharton. As explained on the Steve Hoffman forum:
It’s interesting that for both ‘Pure McCartney’ in 2016 and the new 2020 remaster the polarity is different. Which means something went wrong in the final mastering stage of the original 1997 issue. Because ‘Pure McCartney’ worked from a compressed and limited 1997 master, and this 2020 remaster from a tape without that compression and limiting.
by forum resident “mindgames”
Last updated on September 24, 2020

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.
"Calico Skies" is one of the 154 songs covered.
Lyrics
It was written that I would love you
From the moment I opened my eyes
And the morning when I first saw you
Gave me life under calico skies
I will hold, you for as long as you like
I'll hold you for the rest of my life
Always looking for ways to love you
Never failing to fight at your side
While the angels of love protect us
From the innermost secrets we hide
I'll hold you for as long as you like
I'll hold you for the rest of my life
Long live all of us crazy soldiers
Who were born under calico skies
May we never be called to handle
All the weapons of war we despise
I'll hold you for as long as you like
I'll hold you for the rest of my life
I'll hold you for as long as you like
I'll love you, for the rest of my…
For the rest of my life
Variations
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1997
2.29 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Knee slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flaming Pie (White-Label Promo LP)
Official album • Released in 1997
2.29 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Knee slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official album • Released in 1997
2.29 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Knee slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official album • Released in 1999
1:53 • Classical version • B
- Paul McCartney :
- Executive producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Recording engineer
- Keith Smith :
- Recording engineer
- Steve Rooke :
- Mastering
- Krista Bennion Feeney :
- First violin
- Anca Nicolau :
- Second violin
- Joanna Hood :
- Viola
- Myron Lutzke :
- Cello
- Loma Mar Quartet :
- Arranger
- Performed by :
- Loma Mar Quartet
- John Fraser :
- Producer
- Arne Akselberg :
- Balance engineer
- Paul Baily :
- Editor
- Caroline Haigh :
- Editor
- Session Recording:
- February 21-25th, 1999
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio One, Abbey Road
Official live • Released in 2003
2:38 • Live • L1
- Paul McCartney :
- Executive producer
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Rusty Anderson • Abe Laboriel Jr. • Paul Wickens • Brian Ray
- David Kahne :
- Producer
- Michael Brauer :
- Recording engineer
- Ricardo Chavarria :
- Assistant engineer
Concert From the concert in Osaka, Japan on Nov 17, 2002
Official album • Released in 2003
2:32 • Studio version • C
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Producer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Backing vocals, Percussion
- Paul Wickens :
- Accordion
- Brian Ray :
- Backing vocals, Bass guitar
- Paul Boothroyd :
- Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 2003
- Studio :
- London Arena, London, UK
Something For The Weekend – Paul McCartney’s Glastonbury Groove
Official album • Released in 2004
2:31 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Knee slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Never Stop Doing What You Love
Official album • Released in 2005
2:29 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Knee slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official live • Released in 2009
2:35 • Live • L2 • Could have been recorded on 17, 18 or 21 July 2009
- Paul McCartney :
- Executive producer
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Rusty Anderson • Abe Laboriel Jr. • Paul Wickens • Brian Ray
- Geoff Emerick :
- Audio mixing
- Paul Hicks :
- Audio mixing
- Jonas Westling :
- Additional engineering
- Richard Lancaster :
- Additional engineering
- John Henry :
- Recording engineer
Concert From the concert in New York, USA on Jul 17, 2009
Official album • Released in 2013
2:32 • Studio version • C
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Producer, Vocals
- Rusty Anderson :
- Acoustic guitar, Backing vocals
- Abe Laboriel Jr. :
- Backing vocals, Percussion
- Paul Wickens :
- Accordion
- Brian Ray :
- Backing vocals, Bass guitar
- Paul Boothroyd :
- Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 2003
- Studio :
- London Arena, London, UK
Bootlegs
Where Footprints Never Go - Unofficial Rarities - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
1:36 • Demo • G • From "Flaming Pie" EPK #2
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Vocals
- Session Recording:
- Spring 1997 ?
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Unofficial album
1:34 • Demo • G • From "Flaming Pie" EPK #2
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Vocals
- Session Recording:
- Spring 1997 ?
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Stockholm Globe Arena, May 4, 2003
Unofficial live
2:44 • Live
Concert From the concert in Stockholm, Sweden on May 04, 2003
Videos
Album • Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Album • 2020 exclusive downloads
Album • Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Album • Amoeba Gig
Album • Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Live performances
“Calico Skies” has been played in 53 concerts and 27 soundchecks.
Latest concerts where Calico Skies has been played
Dec 20, 2010 • United Kingdom • Liverpool • O2 Academy
Dec 17, 2010 • United Kingdom • London • 100 Club
Dallas • Cowboys Stadium • USA
Aug 19, 2009 • Part of Summer Live '09
Aug 17, 2009 • Part of Summer Live '09
Aug 15, 2009 • Part of Summer Live '09
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