Paul McCartney’s “Daft” Answer for the Best Beatles Song of All Time

Paul McCartney has rarely been one to hate on The Beatles’ music; if he does have some shade to throw here and there, it’s usually quite warranted. However, a resurfaced interview clip of the Fab Four star from 1980 has a few fans confused.

The clip in question was from an episode of Countdown in 1980, where McCartney was interviewed in London, England. The interviewer asked McCartney which song he believed was his best work out of all the tracks he’s ever done, both inside and outside of The Beatles. McCartney’s response was playful, in his usual fashion.

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In 1980, Paul McCartney was interviewed in London for an episode of Countdown. This is a clip from the ABC archives. #paulmccartney

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“I don’t know,” said McCartney in the clip. “I don’t think in those terms, I think it’s people who analyze the music scene [that] think in terms of ‘What was his best one?’ But I don’t know, if I just had to answer it for some quiz or something I might say ‘Sgt. Pepper’ or I might say ‘Yesterday’.”

The next quip from McCartney seemed to be a dig at one of The Beatles’ less-popular songs from Revolver.

“Or I might just as easily say something daft like ‘She Said She Said’, which is just a track I like,” McCartney said.

Why Did Paul McCartney Shade “She Said She Said”?

Even though McCartney did say that he liked “She Said She Said”, the fact that he said his answer was “daft” is a little puzzling. Is “She Said She Said” considered a not-so-stellar Beatles track?

[See Paul McCartney Live On Tour]

“She Said She Said” was released on Revolver in 1966. It was credited to Lennon-McCartney, but it was actually written by John Lennon with some help from George Harrison. The track was inspired by an LSD trip shared between members of The Beatles and The Byrds. You can hear that inspiration quite well, as the song is notably trippy and “acidy”, according to Lennon himself.

There is a quite famous story about McCartney’s connection to “She Said She Said”. When tensions were high in the studio while recording Revolver, McCartney allegedly walked out of the studio after an argument over the track’s arrangement. It was the last song of the album, so the remaining Beatles recorded it without him.

Maybe his history with the song prompted the very mild shade from McCartney. Either way, it’s still a fantastic little song.

Photo by David Harris/Keystone

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