Pop music is the modern-day equivalent to “classical music” according to The Beatles‘ Paul McCartney.
The Wings frontman confirmed he was initially frightened of classical music but went on to explain how he fell in love with, and identified, the tones and style in modern genres. He said: “I was always frightened of classical music and I never wanted to listen to it because it was Beethoven and Tchaikovsky and some big words like that and Schoenberg. I always thought, I mean, sort of like a taxi driver the other day had some sheet music of a Mozart thing and I said ‘What’s that’ and he said ‘Oh that’s the high-class stuff, you won’t like that.’ and I said ‘Well, what is it’ and he said ‘You won’t like it, it’s high-class that, high brow.’
“That kind of way, that’s what I used to think, I used to think ‘that’s very clever all that stuff’ and it isn’t, you know, it’s just exactly what’s going on in pop at the moment. Pop music is the classical music of now.”
Fans of McCartney have since praised his outlook on pop music, and say the comments still stand today. One user wrote: “If you listen to Mozart it’s easy to hear why he was so popular. Just like the Beatles. Catchy tunes.”
Another added: “Melody is melody. Hooks are hooks. Bach is amazing for hooks. Classical music to me can take me to places no other music can.” A third wrote: “Very true. The only difference genius-wise between e.g. Bach and Paul is training. Paul had no formal training and managed to do things with music that extremely few people could do. Imagine if he had that formal training.”
McCartney’s comments on pop music were expanded on in the same interview, a talk with the BBC in 1968. He added: “People just take our music… and you know, in a line we sort of say ‘She was just seventeen,’ and they just read everything into it.
“Like, ‘She was a seventeen-year-old nymphomanic, working on the streets of Broadway.’ But you know, all we meant is ‘She was just seventeen.’ But it might mean all the other as well… I don’t know, you know. I have no idea if there’s any Aeolian cadences and… myasmic climaxes and all of that.
“We’re the last people to know about our songs, because the pop world’s never heard the pop world as such. It’s like, if you look at a snapshot of yourself, you’re looking at what tie you were wearing or whether you were looking nice in the snapshot.
“But anyone else will just take the snapshot and say ‘Oh, that’s good. That’s a snapshot of Tony,’ you know. We’re always just thinking of ourselves as just happy little songwriters. Just little rockers, you know. Just playing in a rock group. But it gets more important than that, after you’ve been over to America… and you’ve sort of… got knighted.”
Why do music lovers still listen to Mozart?
There were many others composing music at that time.
There music is long forgotten.
But Beethoven and Mozart are still being listened to and enjoyed.
The Beatles created more than music– they created MAGIC–
And their magic will endure thru the ages.
Sir Paul comes up with melodies that penetrative the subconscious.
As did his co write John Lennon.
Together they created a 3rd person. That 3rd person was and astonishing
songwriter.
I have always aspired to make music like the Beatles.
L.Russell Brown songwriter