- Album This song officially appears on the Pipes Of Peace Official album.
- Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1982 (Paul McCartney was 40 years old)
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
Jan 11, 1983
Mixing "Tug Of Peace", "The Other Me"
Jul 06, 1983
Related interviews
Paul McCartney Talks 1983 Classic ‘Pipes Of Peace’ With James Dean Bradfield
Sep 30, 2015 • From DIY
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Song facts
“The Other Me” is a track from 1983 album “Pipes Of Peace“.
“The Other Me” is Paul McCartney alone, playing synthesiser, piano and guitar, and lyrically, could be interpreted as his comment on the critics image of him. Something he was swift to deny: “Oh no, it’s never that. They always say that. I released ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb,’ and they said that was my answer to the BBC banning me. It’s a nice way to think of it, but I didn’t do it for the critics, it was for my daughter, who’s name is Mary, and who had a little lamb! All this reading into stuff, I never do stuff like that. It had never occurred to me that ‘Walk On By’ — for those older listeners and readers — ‘Walk On By’ was a naughty song, until a vicar mentioned it on the radio, and said it’s all about adultery! So, anyway, this one is actually just a song about the other man in me, the new man in me, the other side of me that’s lurking and waiting to get out… There’s a kind of latent possibility in everyone and when they’re teriffic and have had a valium they’re all lovely people, and love people… When they haven’t had their pill, they’re not so nice, and it’s the other side of me is what I am conscious of trying to reach in myself… For me, there’s a side of me I don’t like so much, there’s a side of me that I prefer. I suppose the thing is to try and get a little more in contact with the side of myself that I prefer, and control myself, instead of just flying off the handle.“
Paul McCartney, from Club Sandwich N° 31, 1983
Last updated on February 23, 2020
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.
"The Other Me" is one of the 154 songs covered.
Lyrics
I know I was a crazy fool
For treating you the way I did
But something took hold of me
And I acted like a dustbin lid
I didn't give a second thought
To what the consequences might be
I really wouldn't be surprised
If you were trying to find another me
CHORUS
The other me would rather be the glad one
The other me would rather play the fool
I want to be the kind of me
That doesn't let you down as a rule
I know it doesn't take a lot
To have a little self-control
But every time that I forgot
Well I landed in another hole
But every time you pull me out
I find it harder not to see
That we can build a better life
If I can try to find the other me
- CHORUS -
But if I ever hurt you
Well you know that it's not real
It's not easy living by yourself
So imagine how I feel
I wish I could take it back
I'd like to make a different mood
And if you let me try again
I'll have a better attitude
Well I know that one and one makes two
And that's what I want us to be
I really would appreciate it
If you'd help me find another me
- CHORUS -
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1983
3:59 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar (?), Keyboards (?), Piano (?), Tambourine (?), Vocals
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
- Session Recording:
- Jan 11, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 06, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Official album • Released in 1993
Studio version • A • 1993 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar (?), Keyboards (?), Piano (?), Tambourine (?), Vocals
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
- Session Recording:
- Jan 11, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 06, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Pipes Of Peace - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2015
3:58 • Studio version • A2015 • 2015 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar (?), Keyboards (?), Piano (?), Tambourine (?), 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
- Session Recording:
- Jan 11, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 06, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Bootlegs
Pipes Of Peace - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
3:58 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Acoustic guitar, Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass (?), Electric guitar (?), Keyboards (?), Piano (?), Tambourine (?), Vocals
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Mixing engineer assistant, Recording engineer assistant
- Session Recording:
- Jan 11, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jul 06, 1983
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Live performances
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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