The Man
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- Album This song officially appears on the Pipes Of Peace Official album.
- Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1981 (Paul McCartney was 39 years old)
Song facts
“The Man” is a track from 1983 album “Pipes Of Peace“.
[…] if you say ‘The Man’, it can mean God, it can mean ‘Women, listen to your man’, it can mean so many things. Later I did a song with Michael Jackson called ‘The Man’ and again, it’s quite nice leaving things ambiguous: I’m sure for Michael, probably ‘The Man’ meant God.
Paul McCartney, from Club Sandwich N°47/48, Spring 1988, commenting about the song “Listen To What The Man Said”
“The Man” was scheduled to be the third single out of “Pipes Of Peace“, after “Pipes Of Peace” and “Say Say Say“. The release date was set for February 13th, 1984 (under the catalog number Parlophone R 6066). But after Paul and Linda’s drug bust in Barbados and London in January, the release got cancelled. Interestingly the B-side was to be the still unreleased as of 2020, “Blackpool“.
A 12″ version (Parlophone 12 R 6066″) was also scheduled with “The Man” [extended version]/”The Man” [instrumental version]”/”Blackpool”. The extended version has never surfaced.
Last updated on April 5, 2020
Lyrics
There's a man
Who plays the game of life so well
There's such a man
His thoughts you can never tell
And it's just the way he thought it would be
'Cause the day has come for him to be free
Then he laughs, he kicks then rolls up his sleeves
I'm alive and I'm here forever
This is the man
CHORUS
And it's just the way he thought it would be
'Cause the day has come for him to be free
Then he laughs, and kicks and rolls up his sleeves
I'm alive and I'm here forever
This is the man
There's a man
Everybody thought they knew
There's such a man
He's not like me and you
And it's just the way she thought it would be
As he says, something has happened to me
Then he laughs he kicks and rolls up his sleeves
I'm alive and I'm here forever
This is the man
CHORUS
And it's just the way he thought it would be
'Cause the day has come for him to be free
Then he laughs, as he smiles and rolls up his sleeves
I'm alive and I'm here forever
This is the man
Did you know
This man can do anything?
There's such a man
I wish that we could bring
And it's just the way he thought it would be
'Cause the day has come for him to be free,
Then he laughs, he kicks then rolls up his sleeves,
I'm alive and I'm here forever
This is the man
CHORUS
And it's just the way he thought it would be
'Cause the day has come for him to be free
Then he laughs, and kicks and rolls up his sleeves
I'm alive and I'm here forever
This is the man
This is the man
This is the man
This is the man
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1983
3:56 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar (?), Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums (?), Electric guitar (?), Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Michael Jackson :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
- Unknown musician(s) :
- Flutes, Strings
- Session Recording:
- May 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Overdubs ? :
- April 1982 ?
- Studio :
- Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, USA
- Session Recording:
- Aug 25, 1983
- Studio :
- Sigma Sound Studios, New York City, USA
- Session Mixing:
- Jun 08, 1983
- 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
Official album • Released in 1993
3:55 • Studio version • A • 1993 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar (?), Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums (?), Electric guitar (?), Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Michael Jackson :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
- Unknown musician(s) :
- Flutes, Strings
- Session Recording:
- May 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Overdubs ? :
- April 1982 ?
- Studio :
- Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, USA
- Session Recording:
- Aug 25, 1983
- Studio :
- Sigma Sound Studios, New York City, USA
- Session Mixing:
- Jun 08, 1983
- 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
Pipes Of Peace - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2015
3:55 • Studio version • A2015 • 2015 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar (?), Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums (?), Electric guitar (?), Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Michael Jackson :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
- Sam Okell :
- Remastering
- Alex Wharton :
- Remastering
- Unknown musician(s) :
- Flutes, Strings
- Session Recording:
- May 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Overdubs ? :
- April 1982 ?
- Studio :
- Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, USA
- Session Recording:
- Aug 25, 1983
- Studio :
- Sigma Sound Studios, New York City, USA
- Session Mixing:
- Jun 08, 1983
- 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
Bootlegs
Unofficial album • Released in 2015
4:00 • Studio version • Rough Mix (Unknown Acetate)
Pipes Of Peace - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
3:56 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar (?), Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Drums (?), Electric guitar (?), Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Michael Jackson :
- Backing vocals, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
- Unknown musician(s) :
- Flutes, Strings
- Session Recording:
- May 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Overdubs ? :
- April 1982 ?
- Studio :
- Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles, USA
- Session Recording:
- Aug 25, 1983
- Studio :
- Sigma Sound Studios, New York City, USA
- Session Mixing:
- Jun 08, 1983
- 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
Latest concerts where The Man has been played
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.