A Leap of Faith: "Singalong Junk" by Paul McCartney (Song #7/366 - August 28, 2015)

"Singalong Junk" may be one of the most sensuous tracks Paul McCartney has ever written. The stripped instrumental puts its focus on the piano, drums and an acoustic guitar creating a song that wrangles inside your stomach forcefully and to think it elicits such a strong reaction without any lyrics is a coup. Cameron Crowe used this to beautifully in Jerry Maguire during a moment of affection between Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger. Without ever uttering a word, the lullaby pulls at heart strings. It's moments like these on McCartney that are underrated and amongst McCartney's finest songs which the world discovered on his first solo record in 1970. 

McCartney, released in April 1970, is fundamentally an elaborate home demo with McCartney performing virtually all instruments and vocals. While parts can be self-indulgent in places it is mostly a brilliant journal of self discovery and the first step into an astonishingly successful post-Beatles career. “The Lovely Linda” is a tiny ditty of love lasting less than a minute but is the ideal starting point for solo McCartney. He would dive deep on themes of love throughout his career and what better place to start than with his wife? “That Would Be Something” features bare instrumentation and even verbal beats by McCartney. As spare as it may be, when you hear the academic drumming, it feels more like a heartbeat than a rhythm and as the curling bass in laid on top, you can’t help but be captured by the plainness of it all. “Valentine Day” is an instrumental throwback to the music of the fifties and wouldn’t have been out of place on a record by a Sun Records recording artist. “Every Night” one of the album’s most enduring songs, is also one of its more fleshed out. This wouldn’t have been out of place on the next Beatles record with dueling acoustic guitars are a flush in this lovable melody. “Junk” is an amazingly endearing track with McCartney hushing along to a solemn guitar sweep. “Momma Miss America” is an instrumental (featured in Jerry Maguire) with a heavy beat backing by hammering piano and drums and later in the song by a wailing vintage electric guitar sound. “Teddy Boy” was recorded during what eventually Let It Be became but didn’t make the final cut. A quarter century later it would see release on Anthology 3 but its first public airing occurred as a result of McCartney. It is more at home here than it would have been on any of the latter day Beatles records.