If there’s one
song that hits me smack bang in the soul, it’s The Beatles' Golden
Slumbers.
It’s one of the
shortest songs in their back catalogue, clocking in at just a minute and a
half, yet it somehow manages to define everything about them in those ninety seconds. The fact
it was written and recorded at the tail-end of their career, in the midst of
bitter acrimony, makes it all the more touching; like a beacon of light shining from the darkness, from a man who knew the band that meant so much to him -
and was desperate to keep alive - was falling apart.
One of the most
common clichés McCartney’s detractors raise when discussing his work is
the suggestion he doesn’t emote; that he can write a pretty melody, but that he tends to keep his true feelings out of it. To say this, is to ignore countless examples to the contrary: from Let it Be to Calico Skies;
from Maybe I’m Amazed to The End of The End. For me, the vocal in Golden
Slumbers is a case in point, and one of the most powerful moments he committed to tape. When he sings the word “home” he somehow sums up
everything it could ever mean to me; it’s a brave, vulnerable performance that gets me every time.
I’m not one for
Christmas adverts, least of all before December, but the fact Golden Slumbers has
been used in this year’s John Lewis commercial (covered by the excellent Elbow)
may lead to me uncustomarily unmuting my TV when it’s on. And while Guy Garvey’s a great singer, he could never beat the power of the original; but then, who
could?