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Released in 1997

Somedays

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on September 24, 2020

Album This song officially appears on the Flaming Pie Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1997

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1994, when Paul McCartney was 52 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Other Flaming Pie song also appearing on Working Classical

Related interviews

“Somedays” is a song from 1997 album “Flaming Pie“. From the liner notes:

At first, one session was all it took to commit ‘Somedays’ on to tape, but Paul felt that it could be enhanced by an arrangement. At this time he was occasionally meeting with George Martin at Abbey Road, sifting through unissued archive Beatles recordings for the Anthology albums (and still nervous, 30 years on, that he would not be the cause of any musical breakdowns…), and Paul asked George if he would listen to ‘Somedays’ and consider scoring it for an orchestra. “I see you haven’t lost your touch!” was the considered response; a 14-piece ensemble overdubbed their contribution on 10 June, 1996.

I’d driven Linda to a photo session for one of her cookery assignments. Knowing she’d be about two hours, I set myself a deadline to write a song in that time – so that when she’d finished and would say ‘Did you get bored? What did you do?’, I could say ‘Oh, I wrote this song. Wanna hear it?

Paul McCartney, from the liner notes of “Flaming Pie”
Paul McCartney, in Club Sandwich n°82, Summer 1997:

This was written the day Linda was doing one of her cookery assignments. I went along too, taking an acoustic guitar, and asked the lady in the house we were using if she had a little room where I could go and sit quietly. She offered me her son’s room and I went in there. In these situations I tend to make up a little fantasy, thinking: well, they’re going to be two or three hours, and when it’s all done they’ll say to me, “What did you do?” And I’ll be able to reply, “Oh, I wrote a song!” So I just started writing, with my guitar, and came up with ‘Somedays’ -“Somedays I look, I look at you with eyes that shine, somedays I look into your soul” The first verse came quite well, then the second and the middle, and whereas, at another time, I might have thought, “I leave the words there and finish them next week”, I finished them there and then. John and I used to do this too, occasionally: I don’t think we ever really took more than three or four hours on a song. I’d go to visit him, he’d come to visit me, and we’d sit down and write. 

I’m not a great reader into moods: I don’t naturally say that if I wrote a sad song then I was sad that day, or if I wrote a happy song I was happy. I wrote ‘Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da’ but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I know a Desmond or a Molly. I compose songs like playwrights write a play. They don’t have to know everyone in the play, they don’t have to know anyone in the play, it’s just a product of their imagination. I remember George Harrison saying to me once, “I always have to write from something that’s happened to me, something in my experience.” Well, that’s certainly a good way to write but I’m more fluid, more flexible than that. Sometimes.

Club Sandwich No 82 Summer 1997

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Mark Lewisohn, in Club Sandwich n°82, Summer 1997:

No matter how many songs a composer may have created, whether 5 or 500, mental mind-games are often employed to light the fuse. Paul McCartney, whose cache of hits extends much closer to the latter figure, still likes to impose arbitrary deadlines upon himself, and ‘Somedays’ was written under one such stricture. The date was 18 March 1994 when Paul drove Linda to a house in a village nearby their own, “where she would be photographed for a cookery assignment. While his wife was being snapped Paul retired to a bedroom, normally used by the house-owner’s son, and – possessing an acoustic guitar, pen and paper – conceived his newest song. Knowing that he had only 90 minutes, and realising the question “What did you do?” would be asked of him when the photo session was over, was all the prompting Paul needed to create, the melody and lyric arriving wholly intact. The house-owner’s son made his mark on the song, too, his soccer ephemera on the wall unconsciously prompting Paul to make footballing analogies in the lyric. Writing with John Lennon was often the same: the pair rarely spent more than three hours on a new song and were much influenced by everyday events and objects around them.

That’s a Spanish guitar made in Australia by a guy called Greg Smallman (?). I was turned on to him by John Williams, the guitar player, not the orchestrator and he said he’s really good, he’s got lovely tone. So that’s on the track “Somedays” which in the song in the middle of that you can hear that guitar.

Paul McCartney, in the “Flaming Pie Radio Special”

When I got to the final version of that, I thought that I just maybe could use a little arrangement. So I rang George Martin up. He’s such an old friend and so nice to work with that it’s great to find an excuse, you know, just to work with him on a song. Who’s better to do it than George. I said “by the way George, I’ve got this little tune, what do you think, you know”. “Oh, I see you haven’t lost your touch, Paul” Haha.

Paul McCartney, in “Flaming Pie Radio Special”

When I heard Somedays, it immediately reminded me of the vintage Paul. It’s quite difficult to keep writing hits. Even when you know the greatest hitmaker of all. It was nice to see that Paul was getting back to his roots because I think Somedays is a classic song. I think it’s one of those simple ones, deceivingly simple, but so difficult to write. I loved it, I thought it was terrific. When I listen to it and then Paul said “what do you think we should do then”, I thought it needed small forces, I needed a chamber group again. So when I scored it, it was very simple instrumentation and I gave a kind of idea of what it would be. He liked it.

George Martin, in “Flaming Pie Radio Special”

In 1999, a classical version of “Somedays“, interpreted by a string quartet, was released on Working Classical . From the album liner notes:

Somedays is one of the finest tracks on McCartney’s solo album, Flaming Pie. Remarkably, it was written in just two hours after he had accompanied Linda to a photo session and found himself with some spare time on his hands.

Lyrics

Somedays I look

I look at you with eyes that shine

Somedays I don't

I don't believe that you are mine

It's no good asking me what time of day it is

Who won the match or scored the goal

Somedays I look

Somedays I look into your soul

Sometimes I laugh

I laugh to think how young we were

Sometimes it's hard

It's hard to know which way to turn

Don't ask me where I found that picture on the wall

How much it cost or what it's worth

Sometimes I laugh

I laugh to think how young we were

We don't need anybody else to tell us what is real

Inside each one of us is love

And we know how it feels

Somedays I cry

I cry for those who live in fear

Somedays I don't

I don't remember why I'm here

No use reminding me, it's just the way it is

Who ran the race or came in first

Somedays I cry

I cry for those who fear the worst

We don't need anybody else to tell us what is real

Inside each one of us is love

And we know how it feels

Somedays I look

I look at you with eyes that shine

Somedays I don't

I don't believe that you are mine

It's no good asking me what time of day it is

Who won the match or scored the goal

Somedays I look

Somedays I look into your soul

Variations

  • A Album version
  • A1 Early mix, released on the Capitol 3 track album sampler
  • A2 Without orchestra. Released in 2020.
  • A2020 2020 remaster
  • B Classical version
  • C Home Recording

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Somedays”

Videos

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album 2020 exclusive downloads

Live performances

“Somedays” has been played in 1 concerts.

Latest concerts where “Somedays” has been played

Going further

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present

"Somedays" 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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Paul McCartney writing

Talk more talk, chat more chat

Notice any inaccuracies on this page? Have additional insights or ideas for new content? Or just want to share your thoughts? We value your feedback! Please use the form below to get in touch with us.

James Ringland • 4 years ago

Head over to Paul's website to get a free download of this without the Orchestra, coordinated with the Archive Collection release. Love your site!

The PaulMcCartney Project • 4 years ago

Thanks James!!

jesgear • 4 years ago

The booklet included in the Archive Collection version notes that the Home Recording was made March 1994.

This is the best website 🙂

The PaulMcCartney Project • 4 years ago

Thanks @jesgear ! Will amend (and thanks for the kind words :) )

happyan • 1 year ago

Can't stop listening to this over and over again, just so simple yet soul-reaching. I instantly associate the line "It's no good asking me what time of day it is" with "Dear friend, what's the time?" in Dear Friend. It seems to me that these two songs both convey what one feels when a close relationship gets on the rocks, and wonder what "asking time" actually denotes (get stuck and can't figure it out hh). Also, the story behind is very impressive, thanks for sharing!!

The PaulMcCartney Project • 1 year ago

Thanks for your comment, @happyan. I agree it's a really great song of Paul!

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