Riding To Vanity Fair by Paul McCartney

Album: Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (2005)

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This song could be about John Lennon. It mentions how McCartney and Lennon bonded over their love of music, and touches on the sour feelings between them when The Beatles broke up. Lennon made some nasty remarks about McCartney and called him out in songs like "How Do You Sleep?." McCartney seems to be struggling with how he was not able to tell Lennon how badly this hurt. >>>
Suggestion credit:
Kendra - Berkley, MA
Another possibility is that the song is about a falling out with McCartney's long time publicist of 15 years Geoff Baker, who Paul fired sometime around 2005. It was rumored that Baker was writing a tell-all book about McCartney, and Paul felt betrayed. It's worth noting that Peter Brown, the Executive Director of NEMS Enterprises (The Beatles' management company), also wrote a tell-all about The Beatles and was banished from any contact with them. Peter Brown was such a close friend that John Lennon mentioned him by name in the song "The Ballad Of John And Yoko." >>>
Suggestion credit:
Mike - Westerville, OH

Comments: 6

Cristina from Santiago, ChileAlso, the John theory would make sense with the title, since it was a big problem within The Beatles John being upset/jealous about Paul writing more songs than him, having more songs in albums, having more hits. Probably the main reason the band broke up.
Cristina from Santiago, ChilePaul said the song is about several people. Now, it's hard to think it's not in part about Heather, for the timing of the song, but it's also hard to think it's not at least in part about John, who else could this part be about?: we sang along, when all the songs were sang, believing every line. In fact, the whole song could be about John, the parts talking about friendship would make sense that way (more so than with Heather).
Maybe they were lyrics he had lying around since the early 70's... if it is about John, he wouldn't say it.
David from Apex, NcThis song is not from Memory Almost Full. It was released as a track on Chaos And Creation in the Backyard.
David from San Francisco, CaTerri - interesting theory, but McCartney has revealed that the album this is from (Memory Almost Full) was mostly written and recorded in 2003-4, while they were still together.

The album was shelved in late 2004 and he started working on what became Chaos And Creation in the Backyard, which was released in 2005. Then he went back and finished up Memory Almost Full in 2005-6.

Though Mills and McCartney had split by the time of its release (2007), McCartney left the songs as is, including a love song written for Heather - See Your Sunshine.
Steve from Ny, Ny..sort of a juxtoposition to Billy Joel's "Great Wall of China" , in the way that it refers to business people in both Paul & Billy's lives where ther were falling outs.
Terri from Unspecified, WaI feel (as do many others) this song was written about Heather Mills and the certain demise of their marriage... It was written a couple of years into their marriage, at a time where they were clearly going downhill... At the very least in a marriage, you have to be friends -- this friendship and mutual regard is what sustains you together through the good and bad/ups and downs... Paul did not feel Heather was his friend and she could, therefore, not be relied upon in this vein (nor could she produce this)... He also felt she was a very superficial creature and that, while she ended up barely being able to be caring to him, she always managed to offer this to other people who shouldn't have mattered nearly as much... Again, I feel this song has Heather Mills written all over it...

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