Only Love Remains (song)

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Album This song officially appears on the Press To Play Official album.

Timeline This song has been officially released in 1986

Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1985 (Paul McCartney was 43 years old)

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Only Love Remains” is the fourth single from Paul McCartney’s 1986 album, Press to Play. The song reached number 34 on the UK singles chart.

The song was released as a 7″ single and a 12″ maxi single. The single version of “Only Love Remains” is a remix by Jim Boyer and is different from the album version. The 12″ version of the single featured two more remixes of the songs from Press to Play.

People ask if I feel an album’s incomplete without a ballad, and I do think that a little bit. I know there are people who like them who will inevitably gravitate towards that track… People who’ve heard the album say ‘That’s the McCartney I like’. So I sorta put it on for them, and for myself, because I’m pretty romantic by nature. It’s not so much the feeling ‘Now we must do the compulsory ballad’, it’s more that I can write them, and I like them. I like the quiet moment, and this song is that reflective moment – and it comes at the end of side one, so if you’re not in that mood, you can always take it off !
Paul McCartney, about “Only Love Remains”, from the Press To Play press kit

From “Club Sandwich 42 – Autumn 1986“:

“People who’ve heard the album say ‘That’s the McCartney I like’. So I sorta put it on for them, and for myself, because I’m pretty romantic by nature… I like the quiet moment, and this song is that reflective moment“. John Bradbury leads the orchestra in Tony Visconti’s arrangement and Paul reasserts the oldest cure for most of life’s problems: “Find the right boy or the right girl.“

Club Sandwich No 42 Autumn 1986

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From the “Press To Play” sleeve – These coloured diagrams by Paul show the position of the voices and instruments in the mix of each track.

In 2022, a unique mix of “Only Love Remains” was released as part of the “The 7” Singles Box“. It’s not known if MPL decided to consciously include this mix or if it was a mistake.

Are there differences between the true 7” mix of “Only Love Remains” and the previously unreleased mix on the 7” Singles box? Or are they minor?

The sax is a completely different take which is the standout difference. (IMO sounds like an earlier run through of the sax as it’s not quite there unlike the true single mix.) There are lots of other smaller differences as well, eg – The bongos run right through the Singles Box mix, but stop/start in places on the true single mix. There is a second tambourine on the true single mix (from ‘Old enough’) which is missing from the Singles Box Mix. Finally when the full drums kick in they are a lot more forward in the Singles Box mix.
From Paul McCartney – The 7″ Singles [Release date December 2nd 2022] | Page 80 | Steve Hoffman Music Forums

Last updated on December 26, 2022

Lyrics

And if you take your love away from me,
I'm only going to want it back.
I'll probably pretend I didn't see,
But knowing me, I'll want you back again, and again,
'Til the word has lost it's meaning,
And love is all that stays. Only love remains.

If you should ever feel that something's wrong,
I'm going to want to put it right,
To bring a happy ending to our song,
I'll carry on believing in a love.
If your love was to trickle through my fingers,
What would it leave me with?
Only love remains. Only love remains…

Old enough and strong enough to stretch across the world.
Taking the sand inside an oyster, changing it into a pearl.
Making another magic transformation,
Find the right boy for the right girl.

When all our friends have gone and we're alone,
There's nothing left to shout about,
Together we'll explore the great unknown.
I'd say we won't be going out tonight,
Let tonight be the one that we remember,
When love is all that stays,
Only love remains… Only love remains…