- Album This song officially appears on the Flaming Pie Official album.
- Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1974 (Paul McCartney was 32 years old)
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
May-August 1970
Aug 30, 1974
June 1993
Filming of "In The World Tonight"
Feb 20, 1997
Related interviews
Paul McCartney talks about his new album 'Egypt Station' ahead of Liverpool gig
Nov 01, 2018 • From Wirral Life
McCartney Turns Back the Clock
Apr 12, 1997 • From Billboard
Related articles
Paul and Linda McCartney go and live in Scotland for a few months
April 10 to August 1970
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Song facts
I didn’t want to end the album on a big note. It was a trick similar to what we did on the end of Abbey Road with Her Majesty, a surprise to deflate any pomposity.
Paul McCartney, interview by USA Today, May 1997
“Great Day” is the fourteenth and final song on Paul’s 1997 album “Flaming Pie“. The song was recorded 5 years earlier, even before “Off The Ground” was published; but it has even older roots, as explained in the album liner notes:
Seeking a short, simple song to close Flaming Pie, Paul McCartney has searched back 25 years to find “Great Day”, an acoustic number that he and Linda used to perform ‘sitting around the kitchen or when the children were dancing’. The candlelit evenings in Long Island, enforced by Hurricane Bob in August 1991, not only led Paul to write “Calico Skies” but also found him plucking this one from the memory vault. So, a year later, in the same session that he recorded his new number with George Martin, Paul also committed “Great Day” to tape for the first time (despite it’s years), not changing a hair of the arrangement or lyric.
It’s just a little upbeat song of hope – to the point and in the spirit of the whole album.
Paul McCartney, from the liner notes of “Flaming Pie”
This is here to balance the “big-ness” of the previous track, following on from ‘Beautiful Night’ in the way that ‘Her Majesty’ came after The End’ on Abbey Road. ‘Great Day’ is a song that Linda and I used to sing when the kids were very small, a simple acoustic number with a good feel. I’ve always liked the song but never really had an opportunity to record it, so during the ‘Calico Skies’ session with George Martin, since it had been so easy to record that one little acoustic thing, I told George that I had this song too. The song is identical to how we used to do it 25 years ago.
“Great Day” was previously heard as an instrumental in the 1974 Backyard film. Also some are seeing similarities between “Great Day” and the verse melody of 1972 “Big Barn Bed“.
“Great Day” was performed live only once during the 2003 Adopt-A-Minefield gala, and was heard on very rare occasions during soundchecks.
“Great Day” 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 25, 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.
"Great Day" is one of the 154 songs covered.
Lyrics
When you're wide awake
Say it for goodness sake,
It's gonna be a great day.
While you're standing there
Get up and grab a chair,
It's gonna be a great day.
And it won't be long, oh no
It won't be long, it won't be long, no no
It won't be long, it won't be long, oh no
It won't be long, it won't be long, ooh yeah
Ooh, ooh, yeah
Gonna be a great day
And it won't be long, oh no
It won't be long, it won't be long, no no
It won't be long, it won't be long, oh no
It won't be long, it won't be long, oh.
When you're wide awake
Say it for goodness sake,
It's gonna be a great day.
While you're standing there
Get up and grab a chair
It's gonna be a great day.
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1997
2.06 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Leg slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official album • Released in 1997
2.06 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Leg slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flaming Pie (White-Label Promo LP)
Official album • Released in 1997
2.06 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Leg slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Recording engineer
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official album • Released in 2016
2:09 • Studio version • A2016 • 2016 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Leg slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Recording engineer
- Alex Wharton :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official album • Released in 2016
2:09 • Studio version • A2016 • 2016 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Leg slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Recording engineer
- Alex Wharton :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2020
2:09 • Studio version • A2020 • 2020 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Leg slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Recording engineer
- Alex Wharton :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2020
3:30 • Demo • B • Home Recording
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Harmonies
- Alex Wharton :
- Mastering
- Session Recording:
- June 1993
Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2020
2:17 • Studio version • C • Acoustic
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Lead vocal, Percussion
- Linda McCartney :
- Harmony vocal
- Alex Wharton :
- Mastering
- Session Recording:
- Feb 20, 1997
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official album • Released in 2020
2.06 • Studio version • A2020.1 • 2020 half-speed remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Leg slap, Percussion, Producer, Vocal
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocal
- George Martin :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer
- Bob Kraushaar :
- Recording engineer
- Miles Showell :
- Mastering
- Session Recording:
- Sep 03, 1992
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Bootlegs
Unofficial album
1:25 • Studio rehearsal • D • Medley with "I'm Gonna Love You Too". Instrumental version, from the "Backyard Tape"
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar
- Session Recording:
- Aug 30, 1974
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Unofficial live • Released in 2003
2:55 • Live
Concert From "3rd Annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala" in Los Angeles, USA on Sep 23, 2003
Unofficial live • Released in 2003
2:09 • Live • Rehearsal
Concert From "3rd Annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala" in Los Angeles, USA on Sep 23, 2003
Videos
Album • Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Album • Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Album • Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Live performances
“Great Day” has been played in 1 concerts and 4 soundchecks.
Latest concerts where Great Day has been played
3rd Annual Adopt-A-Minefield Gala
Sep 23, 2003 • USA • Los Angeles • Beverly Hilton Hotel
Contribute!
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In my opinion, this is a clear rereading (reincarnation) of Hey Diddle. Both for the emphasis on the verses "won't be long", and for the fingerstyle on the acoustic guitar.
@Abraão thanks for your comment ! both songs date from the early 70s, so indeed, there is a closeness to those two tracks ! thanks !
Just wondering if there was a meaning to the line 'It won't be long'. What won't be long? Was Paul anticipating something at that time?