- Album This song officially appears on the Back To The Egg Official album.
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
Home recordings (aka "The Piano Tape")
Circa 1974
Recording "Getting Closer", "Baby's Request"
October 16-17, 1978
March - April 1979
Related interviews
Ex-Wings guitarist, Laurence Juber, talks about attending "Paul McCartney University"
Aug 09, 2010 • From Daytrippin' Beatles Magazine
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Song facts
From Wikipedia:
“Getting Closer” is a rock song from the Anglo-American rock band Wings, Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles band. The song was released on the album Back to the Egg.
Background
Despite being released in 1979, Paul McCartney wrote “Getting Closer” in 1974, recording a piano demo for the song later that year. Upon being resurrected by the band for Back to the Egg, the song, originally at a slower tempo, was transformed into a “driving rocker.”
“Getting Closer” and the unreleased song “Cage” were off of demos, the latter being one that Paul and Denny did together. There were times when there was a demo aspect to the sessions, and in some cases we created demos to see how the tune was shaping up. — Laurence Juber, Daytrippin’
Like most of the songs off of Back to the Egg, “Getting Closer” bears an influence from punk and new wave music. Author and Mojo contributor Tom Doyle describes Wings’ version as “power-popping” and reminiscent of the English band Squeeze.
Juber said of the guitars used in the song: “I think I played my Martin D28 on the rhythm track and some Les Paul Custom (the one in the video) for the electric.“
Release
“Getting Closer,” backed with “Spin It On,” was released in the US in June 1979 as the first single from Back to the Egg. The single reached #20 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as #20 on Cashbox and #22 on Record World. Despite not being released as the first single in the UK (“Old Siam, Sir” was used instead), the song did see a UK single release in August 1979. Marketed as a Double A-side with “Baby’s Request,” the single was a relative flop, only peaking at #60.
For the release of Back to the Egg, a special was made featuring music videos for multiple songs, including “Getting Closer.” “Old Siam, Sir“, “Spin It On” and “Arrow Through Me” were among the tracks for which videos were made. […]
This is a straight-ahead rock tune with layered crunchy guitars. Paul, who liked to put his rhythmic stamp on a track, spent some time overdubbing a driving part on his Epiphone Casino amped with a Vox AC30 a Beatles’ gear combo for sure, although there was nothing overtly Beatle-esque about the track. The ending section was not completed for some months.
Laurence Juber, in Guitar With Wings, 2014
Getting Closer. Basic guitar was a Fender Stratocaster. To achieve a staccato sound we employed the unusual technique of hitting the guitar strings with a drum stick instead of a plectrum. I also played an Ovation acoustic and Denny a Martin D28 among other things.
Laurence Juber, from Club Sandwich N°14, April / May 1979
Last updated on March 7, 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.
"Getting Closer" is one of the 154 songs covered.
Lyrics
Say you don't love him
My salamander
Why do you need him
* Oh no don't answer
Oh no I'm getting closer
I'm getting closer
To your heart
Keeping ahead
Of the rain
On the road
Watching my windscreen wipers
Radio playing me a danceable ode
Cattle beware of snipers
When will you see me
My salamander
Now don't try to tell me
Repeat*
Hitting the chisel
And making a joint
Glueing my fingers together
Radio play me a song with a point
Sailor beware of weather
l'm getting closer
My salamander
Well when will we be there
Repeat*
I'm getting closer
To your heart
I'm getting closer
To your heart
Closer closer
Closer closer
Closer closer
Closer closer
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1979
3:23 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Mellotron, Producer, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Keyboards
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Electric guitar
- Laurence Juber :
- Electric guitar
- Steve Holley :
- Drums
- Mark Vigars :
- Assistant engineer
- Phil McDonald :
- Recording engineer
- Chris Thomas :
- Producer
- Session Recording:
- October 1978
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- March 1979
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Getting Closer / Baby's Request
7" Single • Released in 1979
Studio version • A1
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Mellotron, Producer, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Keyboards
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Electric guitar
- Laurence Juber :
- Electric guitar
- Steve Holley :
- Drums
- Mark Vigars :
- Assistant engineer
- Phil McDonald :
- Recording engineer
- Chris Thomas :
- Producer
- Session Recording:
- October 1978
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Official album • Released in 1993
3:23 • Studio version • A
- Session Recording:
- October 1978
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- March 1979
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
7" Single • Released in 2022
3:23 • Studio version • A2022 • 2022 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Mellotron, Producer, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Keyboards
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Electric guitar
- Laurence Juber :
- Electric guitar
- Steve Holley :
- Drums
- Mark Vigars :
- Assistant engineer
- Phil McDonald :
- Recording engineer
- Chris Thomas :
- Producer
- Alex Wharton :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- October 1978
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
- Session Overdubs:
- March 1979
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
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
Unofficial album • Released in 1992
Live performances
“Getting Closer” has been played in 18 concerts.
Latest concerts where Getting Closer has been played
Concert For The People of Kampuchea
Dec 29, 1979 • United Kingdom • London • Hammersmith Odeon
Glasgow • Apollo Centre • United Kingdom
Dec 17, 1979 • Part of Wings 1979 UK Tour
Glasgow • Apollo Centre • United Kingdom
Dec 16, 1979 • Part of Wings 1979 UK Tour
Newcastle upon Tyne • City Hall • United Kingdom
Dec 14, 1979 • Part of Wings 1979 UK Tour
Birmingham • Odeon Cinema • United Kingdom
Dec 12, 1979 • Part of Wings 1979 UK Tour
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.
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What the hell do those lyrics mean?!
The song must be written in 1973, shows this tape:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVXbKcmDBEU
Thanks for this, @Lovich !
Laurence Juber’s commentary from 1979 and 2014 is quite interesting and frankly very helpful in clarifying which models of guitars he and Denny used plus Paul’s guitars for certain songs. His memory seems to be generally consistent.