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- Album This song officially appears on the Band On The Run (UK version) Official album.
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
October 1973
Late October / Early November 1973
Recording "One Hand Clapping" - Day 5
Aug 30, 1974
Sep 29, 1974
Related interviews
Sir Paul McCartney on how he avoids being "big headed"
Jun 21, 2018 • From BBC Radio 6
Interview for Dutch magazine Algemeen Dagblad
Oct 15, 2010 • From Algemeen Dagblad
Dec 08, 1973 • From Disc and Music Echo
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Song facts
From Wikipedia:
“Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” (sometimes written as “1985”) is a song by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released as the final track on their 1973 album Band on the Run. It has been featured on the 2001 documentary DVD Wingspan and Paul McCartney and Wings’ 1974 TV special One Hand Clapping. A 2016 remix of the song was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song was referenced in Brett Easton Ellis’s novel Glamorama, driving a group of fictional supermodels to extreme terrorist acts.
Lyrics and music
Paul McCartney has said that the song originated with just the first line.
“With a lot of songs I do, the first line is it. It’s all in the first line, and then you have to go on and write the second line. With ‘Eleanor Rigby’ I had ‘picks up the rice in the church where the wedding has been.’ that was the one big line that started me off on it. With this one it was ‘No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty-five.’ That’s all I had of that song for months. ‘No one ever left alive in nineteen hundred and eighty… six?’ It wouldn’t have worked!”
The tune is the climactic track from the album Band on the Run. It continues the album’s theme of escape by describing the singer achieving artistic freedom through love. Author Andrew Grant Jackson calls the lyrics “gibberish” and mere placeholders for the excitement and “cinematic purpose” of the music.”
The song has a grandiose ending with a full orchestra and the band. Other instrumentation includes mellotron, organ and horns. The album version ends with an excerpt of the opening song’s chorus. This song is featured on several episodes of Trigger Happy TV. In its early life, it was simply titled “Piano Thing”. […]
Live performances
“Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five” was never performed live by Wings. McCartney performed the song live for the first time ever during his 2010–2011 Up and Coming Tour. He played the song live again during his 2011–2012 On the Run Tour, his 2013–2015 Out There Tour, his 2016–2017 One on One Tour, his performance on 26 July 2018 in the Liverpool Cavern Club, his 2018–2019 Freshen Up tour and at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief.
Cover versions
[…] In 2016, German producer Timo Maas and Canadian DJ James Teej released a remix of the track with McCartney’s approval. Their version received a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. […]
This was originally a little thing I couldn’t get words to, except for the first phrase. But the words just came to me the day we were due to record, and I think it’s turned out quite well.
Paul McCartney – From interview with Disc Magazine, 1973
Last updated on March 19, 2022
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.
"Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five" is one of the 154 songs covered.
Lyrics
Oh no one ever left alive in 1985, will ever do
She may be right
She may be fine
She may get love but she won't get mine
‘Cos I got you
Oh I Oh I
Well I just can't enough of that sweet stuff
My little lady gets behind
INTERLUDE
Oh my mama said the time would come when I
would find myself in love with you
I didn't think
I never dreamed
That I would be around to see it all come true
Woh I Oh I
Well I just can't enough of that sweet stuff
My little lady gets behind.
INTERLUDE
Oh no one ever left alive in 1985 . . .
FINALE
Variations
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1973
5:31 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Shaker (?), Synthesizers, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Organ, Shaker (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar
- Tony Visconti :
- Orchestration
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Swettenham :
- Assistant engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Horns, Strings
- Session Recording:
- October 1973
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Late October / Early November 1973
- Studio :
- Kingsway Studios, London, UK
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 1973
5:31 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Shaker (?), Synthesizers, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Organ, Shaker (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar
- Tony Visconti :
- Orchestration
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Swettenham :
- Assistant engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Horns, Strings
- Session Recording:
- October 1973
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Late October / Early November 1973
- Studio :
- Kingsway Studios, London, UK
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
5:31 • Studio version • A1993 • 1993 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Shaker (?), Synthesizers, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Organ, Shaker (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar
- Tony Visconti :
- Orchestration
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Swettenham :
- Assistant engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Horns, Strings
- Peter Mew :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- October 1973
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Late October / Early November 1973
- Studio :
- Kingsway Studios, London, UK
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 1996
5:31 • Studio version • B • DTS Mix / Quadraphonic version
- Paul McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Shaker (?), Synthesizers, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Organ, Shaker (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar
- Tony Visconti :
- Orchestration
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Swettenham :
- Assistant engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Horns, Strings
- Session Recording:
- October 1973
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Early 1974
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Band On The Run (25th Anniversary)
Official album • Released in 1999
5:31 • Studio version • A1999 • 1999 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Shaker (?), Synthesizers, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Organ, Shaker (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar
- Tony Visconti :
- Orchestration
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer, Remastering
- Monday :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Swettenham :
- Assistant engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Horns, Strings
- Greg Calbi :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- October 1973
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Late October / Early November 1973
- Studio :
- Kingsway Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Band On The Run - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2010
5:32 • Studio version • A2010 • 2010 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Piano, Producer, Shaker (?), Synthesizers, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Organ, Shaker (?)
- Denny Laine :
- Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar
- Tony Visconti :
- Orchestration
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant engineer
- Pete Swettenham :
- Assistant engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Horns, Strings
- Steve Rooke :
- Remastering
- Simon Gibson :
- Remastering
- Sam Okell :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- October 1973
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Late October / Early November 1973
- Studio :
- Kingsway Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989 on Amazon
Band On The Run - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2010
6:00 • TV show • C • From "One Hand Clapping"
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney • Denny Laine • Jimmy McCulloch • Geoff Britton
- Paul McCartney :
- Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Mark Vigars :
- Assistant recording engineer
- John Barrett :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Session Recording:
- Aug 30, 1974
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Studio Two, Abbey Road
- Session Mixing:
- Sep 29, 1974
- Studio :
- EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
12" Single • Released in 2016
6:01 • Studio version • D • Remix
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney • Denny Laine
- Paul McCartney :
- Producer
- Tony Visconti :
- Conductor
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Orchestra
- James Teej :
- Mixing engineer, Producer, Programming
- Timo Maas :
- Mixing engineer, Producer, Programming
- David Katz :
- Orchestra contractor
- Peter Swettenham :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Sascha "Busy" Bühren :
- Mastering engineer
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
12" Single • Released in 2016
5:08 • Studio version • E • Club Mix
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney • Denny Laine
- Paul McCartney :
- Producer
- Tony Visconti :
- Conductor
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Orchestra
- James Teej :
- Mixing engineer, Producer, Programming
- Timo Maas :
- Mixing engineer, Producer, Programming
- David Katz :
- Orchestra contractor
- Peter Swettenham :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Sascha "Busy" Bühren :
- Mastering engineer
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
12" Single • Released in 2016
6:01 • Studio version • D • Original Mix
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney • Denny Laine
- Paul McCartney :
- Producer
- Tony Visconti :
- Conductor
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Monday :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Beaux Arts Orchestra :
- Orchestra
- James Teej :
- Mixing engineer, Producer, Programming
- Timo Maas :
- Mixing engineer, Producer, Programming
- David Katz :
- Orchestra contractor
- Peter Swettenham :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Sascha "Busy" Bühren :
- Mastering engineer
Bootlegs
On The Run - Bologna, Italy - November 26, 2011
Unofficial live
4:32 • Live
Concert From the concert in Bologna, Italy on Nov 26, 2011
On The Run - Bologna, Italy - November 27, 2011
Unofficial live
3:49 • Live
Concert From the concert in Milan, Italy on Nov 27, 2011
Unofficial live
4:24 • Live
Concert From the concert in Montreal, Canada on Jul 26, 2011
Unofficial live
4:05 • Live
Concert From "Live at BBC Maida Vale" in London, United Kingdom on Oct 16, 2013
Unofficial live
4:04 • Live
Concert From the concert in Mexico City, Mexico on May 28, 2010
Films
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five
1974 • Directed by David Litchfield
Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
2016 • For Paul McCartney • Directed by Can Evgin
Videos
Album • Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five
Concert • Aug 19, 2010 in Pittsburgh
Concert • Oct 26, 2010 in London
Concert • Dec 13, 2010 in New York
Concert • Dec 17, 2010 in London
Concert • May 09, 2013 in Fortaleza
Concert • Sep 07, 2018 in New York
Live performances
“Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five” has been played in 331 concerts and 15 soundchecks.
Latest concerts where Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five has been played
São Paulo • Allianz Parque • Brazil
Dec 07, 2023 • Part of Got Back Tour
Belo Horizonte • Mrv Arena • Brazil
Dec 04, 2023 • Part of Got Back Tour
Belo Horizonte • Mrv Arena • Brazil
Dec 03, 2023 • Part of Got Back Tour
Brasília • Mané Garrincha Stadium • Brazil
Nov 30, 2023 • Part of Got Back Tour
Impromptu concert at Clube Do Choro
Nov 28, 2023 • Part of Got Back 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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Where is the mellotron in this song?
In the verse section, some kind of flute-like keyboard doubles the descending piano riff. I couldn't say if it's mellotron or synth, but it sounds mellotron-like.