Album This song officially appears on the London Undersound Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 2008
“My Soul” is a song written by Paul McCartney and British Indian musician, producer and composer Nitin Sawhney. It was released on Sawhney’s 2008 album “London Undersound“.
So many collaborations for you over the years, Sting, Brian Eno, Sinead O’Connor, Jeff Beck, Ellie Goulding, A.R. Rahman, Anouska Shankar, but I’ve read you say that working with Paul McCartney was a particular highlight. He was supposed to play the wineglass, but he didn’t.
Well. So I’ve known Paul McCartney for a long time, and he came over the first time back in the 90s, to the shared flat I was in with Sanjeev Bhaskar actually. It was amazing because he called me up in the morning and said, I’m thinking of coming over and watching what you’re doing. And I was quite worried about that…
About the flat, if our Desert Island Discs listeners were there, what might they have seen?
Mess. (laughs) So basically, everyone was frantically running around hoovering and doing all kinds of things, trying to figure out what to do with random cardboard boxes. And then he came up to my tiny bedroom, where I had all my studio gear, and he looked around, and then he looked at me and just said, “I used to live in a place like this”. And he said, “I wrote a track called scrambled eggs in a room a bit like this”. And he sat down and played Yesterday on my guitar, which is what that was. It was called “Scrambled Eggs” originally. So I was like, okay, “Paul McCartney is in my bedroom playing Yesterday to me, this is an interesting point in my life”. And so anyway, I got to know him. And then one time I was at his house, and David Gilmour was there, and they decided to have a jam at one point. So I ended up playing piano with David Gilmour on saxophone, and Paul McCartney singing. And then later on, at the dinner, Paul McCartney just started playing a note on the wineglass, just with his finger, just as we were chatting, and I said, “you know what, it would be amazing if you appeared on my next album, but not playing bass or singing, but just playing the wineglass” and he said, “I really like that idea”. So he turned up, but then he brought his bass and we ended up writing a song together, obviously.
Nitin Sawhney – Interview for BBC Desert Island Discs, June 21, 2019
Paul McCartney walked into my bedroom when we were working together, and said: “I wrote a song called Scrambled Eggs in a room quite like this, but then it changed into another lyric.” He picked up an acoustic guitar and sang Yesterday. At the end of Paul’s garden, out in the woods really, he has a bar. He makes a great margarita.
Nitin Sawhney – interview with TheGuardian, July 13, 2019
He was the easiest person I’ve ever worked with. […] He had no ego. He was really chilled.
Nitin Sawhney, about Paul McCartney – interview with The National, January 19, 2020
Funny, intelligent, open, inspiring — I thought of how I was in the giant shoes that John Lennon had been in
Nitin Sawhney, about Paul McCartney – Interview for Financial Times (ft.com), September 17, 2020
Having worked with, and become yourself, a big international name in music, what’s the star quality all these people – McCartney, Visconti, etc – have in common?
They’re very focused. They know what they want, and have a drive that means they see things through to the point of delivery. They deliver in a room, whatever they’re doing, they see it through. Paul McCartney has still got that same hunger, he’s still interested in pushing boundaries. When I first met him in the Nineties, he was doing the Fireman project with producer Youth, and he wanted me to remix a couple of tracks. It’s pretty out there. He came to my house and we used to hang out there. It was a completely different thing from what he was used to. He was really pushing himself. All those people do.
Nitin Sawhney – Interview for theartsdesk, August 22, 2017
I long to know all your secrets
I want to walk through your fire
Light up my eyes with your smile
I was awakened by magic
I was alone in this world
Take me away from here
Life's being run at a blistering pace
I've been shot from a gun
To your final embrace
My soul, your heart, two worlds apart
This life is all we have
How could they steal all these feelings?
How could they lie to this world?
A picture away from your smile
Life's being run at a blistering pace
I've been shot from a gun
To your final embrace
My soul, your heart, two worlds apart
This life is all we have
One soul displaced, one heart replaced
Feelings defaced, invade our space
No one left to give us back our time
Climb every mountain
Swim through every sea
When all the world is asleep
We could set ourselves free
My soul, your heart, two worlds apart
This life is all we have
Yeah
We could climb every mountain
Swim through every sea
When all the world is asleep
Yeah, we could set ourselves free
We could climb every mountain
Swim through every sea
When all the world is asleep
Yeah, we could set ourselves free
My soul, your heart, two worlds apart
This life
Official album • Released in 2008
4:03 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Bass, Electric guitar, Vocals Nitin Sawhney : Acoustic guitar, Arrangement, Bass, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Mixing engineer, Orchestration, Piano, Producer, Programming Reena Bhardwaj : Backing vocals Ralph Salmins : Drums Ashwin Srinivasan : Flute Urban Soul Orchestra : Strings
Memory Almost Full - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
4:31 • Studio version • A
Memory Almost Full - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
2:59 • Studio version • A • Promo edit
Memory Almost Full - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
4:07 • Studio version • A • Instrumental
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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sertaneja • 3 years ago
It is a terrific song. But thre is no facts here. I would love to know how was this collaboration between Paul and Nitin Sawhney
The PaulMcCartney Project • 3 years ago
Hi sertaneja, it was difficult to find some details on this song, but I managed to find a few interviews of Nitin Sawhney. Have a read !