Live and Let Die

So for the second half of my Paul is doing a concert double header, I totally picked the song Live and Let Die. Yeah I know. I totally just picked the two most obvious Paul songs. Sorry if you expected more.

Paul wrote the song as the opening theme for the 1973 James Bond film of the same name. The single charted at number 2 in the US and number 9 in the UK. It was more successful than any previous Bond theme song at that time.

There's apparently a little bit of debate about the grammar of some of the lyrics. The argument is basically over whether the line reads: "this ever changing world in which we live in," which is of course incorrect, because you're not supposed to end on a preposition, or whether it reads: "this ever changing world in which we're living," which is much more correct (note: if everyone followed that rule, people would be saying which all day, which could be a good thing if you like that word). Apparently, when Paul asked, he said he couldn't remember which it was, but that he's pretty sure it was the latter. Good choice Paul. When in doubt, go with what's correct. I was always sure the former had been used though. I think Paul is just lucky that line is so ambiguous, or else instead of saying he didn't remember, he would have had to say, “Well, you know, prepositions weren't at the forefront of my thoughts while I was writing the song.” Besides, it's way better to keep people guessing anyway.

The song has been covered quite a few times. I swear everything get's covered way more than you think. I mean seriously, Geri Halliwell covered this song. If anyone who reads this actually knew that. I'm impressed. Anyway, of course I'm not featuring her version. As I'm sure you've already guessed, I'm going to feature the Guns n' Roses version. (They actually use a capital N, but I think that's dumb, so I used a lower case one. It just looks better.)

Guns n' Roses recorded their version for their 1991, simultaneous double album release Use Your Illusion. The song appears on Use Your Illusion I. It was the fourth single released from those albums. It charted at number 20, and was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1993. Also the music video for the song was made just before Izzy Stradlin (the coolest member of the band) quit the group. It is the last Gun n' Roses video in which he makes an appearance. Also the cover art of Use Your Illusion is a portion of School of Athens the Fresco by Raphael, which is kind of cool. I wonder if that was public domain or if they had to pay to use it.

Paul McCartney:

Guns n' Roses:

Okay, so I should probably clear the air, and say that I used to really like Guns n' Roses, like 10 lots worth, way more than just one. What I'm saying is, I probably liked them more than they deserved. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they suck now; I just don’t like them that much anymore. I still think that Appetite probably deserves a spot on every top five best first full length album release list. That album is rock solid. GNR Lies is pretty good too. The first 4 tracks which were initially released at an EP before Appetite are sick. And I'll still come out and say that they would have been something to see in the early mid 80s when they were still all basically just a bunch of homeless kids who would get obliterated every night, and then blow the walls off every bar in LA. It probably would have been spectacular. But Use Your Illusion is really self-indulgent, and frankly is pretty boring. However, there are some great songs on it. I bet it could have been a great album if it had been released as just a regular one, instead of two double ones. And then the Spaghetti Incident is basically just a recording of a band breaking up. Lots of bands have done that though, so you can’t really fault them for it too much. Chinese Democracy? Yeah that's a thing. It should have been released in 99' cause all the leaked demos were better than what ended up appearing on the album. Okay, I'm being such a dick. I'm sorry Axl. I know, I know, you're an artist.

Wow. Well, I went off track there. This is getting long. I know it's not like really long. But if there's one thing I hate, it's overly long blog posts. I'll try to wrap this up quick.

So who wins? For me this one is actually pretty close. I think both are a little cheesy. Paul's is cheesy in a this is a movie theme song a about a secret agent and it sounds like it way, and GNR's version is cheesy in a heavy 90s kind of way. This one could almost be a tie for me, but I hate ties so much. I'm going to say the Guns n' Roses version wins. I kind of feel like I'm wrong, but I think I'd feel more wrong if I said Paul won. I don't know, maybe I should have made it a tie. I'd ask what you guys think, but I already know the answer: silence.