- Album This song officially appears on the Flowers In The Dirt Official album.
- Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1984 (Paul McCartney was 42 years old)
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
Oct 01, 1984
"Flowers In The Dirt" sessions with Mitchell Froom & Neil Dorfsman
September - November 1988
Dec 01, 1988
Jan 26, 1989
Related interviews
Behind the Songs: Paul McCartney Shares Intimate Memories of Recording Flowers in the Dirt
Mar 24, 2017 • From People Music
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Song facts
“We Got Married“, released on “Flowers In The Dirt” in 1989, had been recorded in September / October 1984 with American producer David Foster; and as such was the oldest track on the record, and featured David Gilmour on guitar, and Dave Mattacks on drums. David Foster considered the song to be the weakest of the three songs recorded during those sessions (the other ones being the unreleased Lindiana, and I Love This House); the rough mix is available on the bootleg Pizza And Fairy Tales.
Overdubs were added in …
At some point, it was considered to be issued as a single, and a video had been prepared. It became a regular song in the setlists of The Paul McCartney World Tour in 1989 / 1990.
Paul McCartney in “Club Sandwich 52, Summer 1989“:
It’s like a celebration of marriage… So often people shy away from subjects like marriage… They concentrate on puberty. Well, at the age of 46, puberty’s fairly far away! The game is up, folks!…I do actually start it in puberty: ‘Going fast, coming soon/We made love in the afternoon/Found a flat, after that/ We got married’. That reminds me of John and Cynthia at art school… Dave Gilmour’s on there playing lovely guitar. I like it. It’s kinda grown-up.
Paul McCartney in “Club Sandwich 70, Summer 1991“:
A great song, ‘We Got Married’, for many it was the standout track on Flowers In The Dirt. But it wasn’t a single. It nearly was, but not quite. Capitol considered issuing it in the United States in 1990, when the World Tour was heading back to America for its first venture around the stadiums. Because of this, the label pressed up some promotional CD singles featuring an edited version of the album cut and MPL put together a promotional video. But then minds were changed and something else happened instead.
So the video for ‘We Got Married’ is another of rarities in the McCartney archive: well worth looking at but scarcely seen – hence a prime contender for another look-see in this column.
Directed by Aubrey Powell, produced for Propaganda Films by Steve Swartz and edited by Todd Chestnut (that must be an American name), the ‘We Got Married’ film prominently features in concert and on-stage footage. These terms do have different meanings, incidentally, for, while in the USA, Paul and Band took time out to perform more or less an entire show before a minimal audience, not as an advertised tour date but expressly so that close-ups and other camera angles could be shot for insertion into concert films. Knowing that nothing can irritate an audience as much as cameramen clambering all over the stage, obstructing the view and distracting the concentration, Paul realised it would be a good idea if the director get all of his fancy shots done in a private “mock up” show instead.
Like other films of the same era and ilk, ‘We Got Married’ also shows some off-stage moments: long limousines in the falling rain, fans wielding flowers, flocking to the concert venues and waiting on line outside the arenas, photographers jostling for the best pictures, and, highly appropriately, momentary monochromatic glimpses (from the deservedly popular pre-show film) of Paul and Linda on their wedding day – the silver anniversary of which, it would be remiss of us not to note, was celebrated this year, 1994.
But, as we said, ‘We Got Married’ never came out as a single in the USA. Imagine everyone on the video production team going to all that effort just so that Club Sandwich could review it four years later…

Paul McCartney, in People Music, March 24, 2017:
“It’s a pretty little song, heartfelt. It’s not totally autobiographical but it captures being first married, first in love like Linda and I were. We didn’t get a flat together, little details like that are me as a songwriter just throwing in stuff that feels good. But basically it’s our life story, me and Linda. I have great memories of it, because it reminds me of her. It’s a song about getting married and the thrill of it—the first bloom of that for me is encapsulated in the song. The great thing was Dave Gilmour [of Pink Floyd] agreed to play guitar on it. That was really nice, I thought he did a great job on guitar. Very soulful.”
Last updated on April 29, 2021

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.
"We Got Married" is one of the 154 songs covered.
Lyrics
Going fast, coming soon,
We made love in the afternoon.
Found a flat, after that
We got married.
Working hard for the dream,
Scoring goals for the other team,
Times were bad, we were glad
We got married.
Like the way you open up your hearts to each other,
When you find a meeting of the minds.
Just as well love was all we ever wanted,
It was all we ever had.
Further on in the game,
Waiting up till the children came.
Place your bets, no regrets,
We got married.
We got married.
We got married.
Nowadays every night flashes by
At the speed of light,
Living life, loving wife
We got married.
I love the things that happen
When we start to discover
Who we are
And what we're living for,
Just because love was
All we ever wanted
It was all we ever had.
It's not just a loving machine,
It doesn't work out
If you don't work at it.
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1989
4:57 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
- Robbie McIntosh :
- Acoustic guitar
- Hamish Stuart :
- Harmonies
- David Gilmour :
- Guitar
- Dave Mattacks :
- Drums
- Neil Dorfsman :
- Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Chris Witten :
- Additional percussion
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant recording engineer
- David Foster :
- Keyboards, Producer
- Guy Barker :
- Trumpet
- Jon Kelly :
- Recording engineer
- Noel Harris :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Session Recording:
- Oct 01, 1984
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- September - November 1988 ?
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- Dec 01, 1988
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jan 26, 1989
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Official album • Released in 1990
4:57 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
- Robbie McIntosh :
- Acoustic guitar
- Hamish Stuart :
- Harmonies
- David Gilmour :
- Guitar
- Dave Mattacks :
- Drums
- Neil Dorfsman :
- Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Chris Witten :
- Additional percussion
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant recording engineer
- David Foster :
- Keyboards, Producer
- Guy Barker :
- Trumpet
- Jon Kelly :
- Recording engineer
- Noel Harris :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Session Recording:
- Oct 01, 1984
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- September - November 1988 ?
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- Dec 01, 1988
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jan 26, 1989
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Tripping the Live Fantastic: Highlights!
Official live • Released in 1990
7:09 • Live • L1
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney • Robbie McIntosh • Hamish Stuart • Paul Wickens • Chris Whitten
- Paul McCartney :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Assistant engineer
- Matt Butler :
- Assistant engineer
- Peter Henderson :
- Producer
- Bob Clearmountain :
- Mixing engineer, Producer
- Jeff Cohen :
- Recording engineer
- Geoff Foster :
- Assistant engineer
- Scott Hull :
- Assistant engineer
- George Cowan :
- Assistant engineer
- Paul Rushbrook :
- Assistant engineer
Concert From the concert in London, United Kingdom on Jan 16, 1990
Flowers In The Dirt - Special Package
Official album • Released in 1990
4:57 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
- Robbie McIntosh :
- Acoustic guitar
- Hamish Stuart :
- Harmonies
- David Gilmour :
- Guitar
- Dave Mattacks :
- Drums
- Neil Dorfsman :
- Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Chris Witten :
- Additional percussion
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant recording engineer
- David Foster :
- Keyboards, Producer
- Guy Barker :
- Trumpet
- Jon Kelly :
- Recording engineer
- Noel Harris :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Session Recording:
- Oct 01, 1984
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- September - November 1988 ?
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- Dec 01, 1988
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jan 26, 1989
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Official live • Released in 1990
6:38 • Live • L1
- Performed by :
- Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney • Robbie McIntosh • Hamish Stuart • Paul Wickens • Chris Whitten
- Paul McCartney :
- Producer
- Eddie Klein :
- Assistant engineer
- Matt Butler :
- Assistant engineer
- Peter Henderson :
- Producer
- Bob Clearmountain :
- Mixing engineer, Producer
- Jeff Cohen :
- Recording engineer
- Geoff Foster :
- Assistant engineer
- Scott Hull :
- Assistant engineer
- George Cowan :
- Assistant engineer
- Paul Rushbrook :
- Assistant engineer
Concert From the concert in London, United Kingdom on Jan 16, 1990
Official album • Released in 1993
4:57 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
- Robbie McIntosh :
- Acoustic guitar
- Hamish Stuart :
- Harmonies
- David Gilmour :
- Guitar
- Dave Mattacks :
- Drums
- Neil Dorfsman :
- Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Chris Witten :
- Additional percussion
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant recording engineer
- David Foster :
- Keyboards, Producer
- Guy Barker :
- Trumpet
- Jon Kelly :
- Recording engineer
- Noel Harris :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Session Recording:
- Oct 01, 1984
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- September - November 1988 ?
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- Dec 01, 1988
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jan 26, 1989
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Flowers In The Dirt - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2017
4:57 • Studio version • A2017 • 2017 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Harmonies, Lead vocal, Mexican guitar, Percussion, Producer, Tom overdub
- Robbie McIntosh :
- Acoustic guitar
- Hamish Stuart :
- Harmonies
- David Gilmour :
- Guitar
- Dave Mattacks :
- Drums
- Neil Dorfsman :
- Additional production, Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Chris Witten :
- Additional percussion
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant recording engineer
- David Foster :
- Keyboards, Producer
- Guy Barker :
- Trumpet
- Jon Kelly :
- Recording engineer
- Noel Harris :
- Assistant mixing engineer
- Sam Okell :
- Remastering
- Alex Wharton :
- Remastering
- Session Recording:
- Oct 01, 1984
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- September - November 1988 ?
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
- Session Overdubs:
- Dec 01, 1988
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
- Session Mixing:
- Jan 26, 1989
- Studio :
- Olympic Sound Studios, London, UK
Credits & recording details courtesy of Luca Perasi • Buy Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013) on Amazon
Bootlegs
Unofficial live
6:26 • Live
Concert From the concert in Hamburg, Germany on Oct 03, 1989
Indianapolis IN February 15, 1990
Unofficial live
1:15 • Soundcheck
Concert From the concert in Indianapolis, USA on Feb 15, 1990
Indianapolis IN February 15, 1990
Unofficial live
7:04 • Live
Concert From the concert in Indianapolis, USA on Feb 15, 1990
Live performances
“We Got Married” has been played in 106 concerts and 4 soundchecks.
Latest concerts where We Got Married has been played
Jul 29, 1990 • Part of The Paul McCartney World Tour
Foxboro • Sullivan Stadium • USA
Jul 26, 1990 • Part of The Paul McCartney World Tour
Foxboro • Sullivan Stadium • USA
Jul 24, 1990 • Part of The Paul McCartney World Tour
Raleigh • Carter-Finley Stadium • USA
Jul 22, 1990 • Part of The Paul McCartney World Tour
Cleveland • Cleveland Stadium • USA
Jul 20, 1990 • Part of The Paul McCartney World Tour
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