Album This song officially appears on the Memory Almost Full Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 2007
This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:
"Memory Almost Full" first sessions
End of February 2004
David Kahne talks about Memory Almost Full
Jun 01, 2007
“Vintage Clothes” is a song from Paul McCartney’s 2007 album, “Memory Almost Full“.
For me this is about my clothes from the Sixties and the fact that what’s out comes back – fashion going round in circles. I meet quite a few young guys in bands and a question they always ask is, ‘Did you keep the clothes?’ As a matter of fact I did. The Beatles had a tailor, Dougie Millings – he’s in a scene in A Hard Day’s Night. Instead of just going to get a suit as you did before, for a job interview or whatever, suddenly you were going to get epaulettes and fancy buttons, materials and linings. That to me is where the song is coming from. The message is: vintage clothes are great but don’t live in the past. It’s the opening of a medley. The next four songs are designed to run together, with this as the opener. I hadn’t done that since Abbey Road and I thought it would be quite nice to flirt with that idea again. It just means it’s a slightly longer form. You’ve got to think, ‘What came before?’ ‘What statement are you going to make now?’ ‘How’s this going to lead on?’ It’s not that different from just sequencing an album, but you suddenly think of them as a suite of songs, and it’s interesting to write them in that way.
Paul McCartney – interview with Mail On Sunday, May 12, 2008
Interview with David Khane, from Mix Online, October 1, 2007:
“Vintage Clothes,” with its unusual tempo changes, features McCartney on piano and acoustic guitar, with Anderson playing electric. “I like some of the electric guitar sounds because it’s evocative of some of the sounds they achieved at Abbey Road like on the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ reprise,” Kahne notes. Background vocals are, as Kahne puts it, “stacks of Paul.” McCartney’s Mellotron — captured from Abbey Road long ago — is the same one featured doing the “flute” opening on “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and he is, in fact, playing that very setting on this recording.
Don't live in the past
Don't hold on to something that's changing fast
What we are is what we are
And what we wear is vintage clothes
Vintage clothes
Vintage clothes
We jump up for joy
Who cares if we look like a girl or boy
What we are is what we are
And what we wear is vintage clothes
Vintage clothes
Vintage clothes
A little worn
A little torn
Check the rack
What went out is coming back
Don't live in the past
Don't hold on to something that's changing fast
What we are is what we are
And what we wear is vintage clothes
Vintage clothes
A little worn
A little torn
Check the rack
What went out is coming back
Memory Almost Full - 2CD limited edition bonus disc
Official album • Released in 2007
2:22 • Studio version • A
Official album • Released in 2007
2:22 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Bass, Mellotron, Piano, Vocals Rusty Anderson : Electric guitar Abe Laboriel Jr. : Drums David Kahne : Mixing engineer, Producer Paul Wickens : Keyboards Andy Wallace : Mixing engineer
Session Recording: End of February 2004 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • From the books "Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs" • Buy Volume 1 (1970-1989) and Volume 2 (1990-2012) on Amazon
Memory Almost Full - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
2:23 • Studio version • A
Where Footprints Never Go - Unofficial Rarities - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
3:18 • Studio version • [acoustic]
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 2) 1990-2012
This new book by Luca Perasi traces Paul McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1990 to 2012 in the form of 250 song entries, filled with details about the recordings, stories behind the sessions and musical analysis. His pop albums, his forays into classical and avant-garde music, his penchant for covering old standards: a complete book to discover how these languages cross-pollinate and influence each other.
The second volume in a series that has established itself as a unique guide to take the reader on a journey into the astonishing creativity of Paul McCartney.
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