Album This song officially appears on the McCartney III Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 2020
This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:
April - June 2020 ?
Paul McCartney Is Still Trying to Figure Out Love
Nov 29, 2020 • From New York Times
Idris Elba meets Paul McCartney
Dec 19, 2020 • From BBC One
"McCartney III" Twitter Listening Party
Dec 21, 2020 • From Tim's Twitter Listening Party
“Pretty Boys” is a track from 2020 album “McCartney III“.
The lyrics for “Pretty Boys” are inspired by Paul seeing bicycles for hire around New York and London. It was also inspired by certain photographers who have been known to get out of the line in the studio. The “objects of desire” in the song are male models. But Paul finishes the song with a warning. “You can look, but you’d better not touch…”
From Spotify Storyline. Storyline is a feature of Spotify that gives behind-the-scenes information from artists about their songs, presented with a carousel of cards featuring a combination of text and images.
There’s a song on “McCartney III,” “Pretty Boys,” that is kind of unusual for you in how the music is sort of unassuming but the lyrics have an almost sinister edge. What inspired that one?
I’ll tell you exactly. I’ve been photographed by many photographers through the years. And when you get down to London, doing sessions with people like David Bailey, they can get pretty energetic in the studio. It’s like “Blow-Up”, you know? “Give it to me! [Expletive] the lens!” And it’s like: “What? No, I’m not going to.” But I understand why they’re doing that. They’re that kind of artist. So you allow it. Certain photographers — they tend to be very good photographers, by the way — can be totally out of line in the studio. So “Pretty Boys” is about male models. And going around New York or London, you see the lines of bicycles for hire. It struck me that they’re like models, there to be used. It’s most unfortunate.
Paul McCartney – from interview with New York Times, November 29, 2020
I got to use the Kay M-1 upright bass on this. Previously played and owned by Bill Black when he played and toured with Elvis. How cool is that!
Paul McCartney talking about “Pretty Boys” – From Twitter
Here’s what Keith Smith, Paul’s technical manager, remembers about the recording of “Pretty Boys“:
[With Paul’s way of working, it] always starts from the song. That’s kind of how some of this started. When he did Pretty Boys, he sat down and said ‘I’ve got this really nice little thing I’ve been working on’. It was a riff that he’s had going for ages, I recognised it from way back when he started playing it. He just sat down with an acoustic and knocked out the vocal and the acoustic at the same time. Then it just developed.
Keith Smith – from Music Radar, December 18, 2020
In 2021, for the “McCartney III Imagined” project, American trio Khruangbin reimagined “Pretty Boys“.
Look into my lens
Give me all you got
Work it for me baby
Let me take my best shot
Meet the Pretty Boys
A line of bicycles for hire
Objects of desire
Working for the squire
You can look but you’d better not touch
’Cause here come the Pretty Boys
They’re gonna set your world on fire
Objects of desire Preaching to the choir
They can talk but they never say much
Strike another pose
Try to feel the light
Hey, the camera loves you
Don’t put up a fight
There go the Pretty Boys
A row of cottages for rent
For your main event
They’re what the angels sent
You can look but you’d better not touch
Look into my lens
Try to feel the light
Hey, the camera loves you
It’s gonna be alright
Oh, here come the Pretty Boys
A line of bicycles for hire
Objects of desire
When they’re working for the squire
You can look but you’d better not touch
The Pretty Boys
But you’d better not touch
The Pretty Boys
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Deluxe Edition Blue Cover CD)
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Deluxe Edition Red Cover CD)
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Deluxe Edition White Cover CD)
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Deluxe Edition Yellow Cover CD)
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Deluxe Digital Album)
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Japanese edition - Limited release)
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Smoky Tint Cassette)
Cassette • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
McCartney III (Green cover, CD)
Official album • Released in 2020
3:00 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Double bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Harpsichord, Piano, Producer, Vocals Keith Smith : Assistant engineer Steve Orchard : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
Session Recording: April - June 2020 ? • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
2020 • For Paul McCartney • Directed by Lucy Dyson
2021 • For Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present
"Pretty Boys" is one of the songs featured in the book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present," published in 2021. The book explores Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, his time with the Beatles, Wings, and his solo career. It pairs the lyrics of 154 of his songs with his first-person commentary on the circumstances of their creation, the inspirations behind them, and his current thoughts on them.
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