Paul McCartney is one of the most famous men on the planet today, and he could claim that kind of notoriety back in 1970 as well. You’d think his life at the time would have consisted of a series of parties and celebrations.
But due to the tumult caused by the infighting and eventual breakup of The Beatles, McCartney was much more inclined at the time to stay close to home with his wife Linda, away from the rest of the world. That desire comes to the fore on “Every Night,” one of the finest songs on McCartney, his solo debut album.
A “Night” to Remember
Even though The Beatles’ breakup was announced in conjunction with the release of the McCartney album in April 1970, it had been a done deal for quite some time by that point. John Lennon had given his notice back in September 1969 at a group meeting. The band just decided not to publicize it since they still had product in the pipeline.
The breakup devastated McCartney, as he underwent a period of heavy depression and drinking in its wake. He had been the one who had tried to keep the band afloat as the members pulled in different directions. But his reluctance to go along with the other three members in choosing a business manager also caused a lot of the friction.
About the only thing that kept McCartney from completely losing it at this point was his relationship with his wife Linda. It was Linda who encouraged him to start making music again. He did so on an informal level at first, as he banged out a few instrumentals in his home studio.
It was “Every Night” that actually ramped up the process. McCartney had begun working on the song at the sessions for The Beatles’ Abbey Road album. When he brought the song back to the studio on his own, it became clear to Paul he was indeed working on an album and not just a random batch of songs.
Examining the Lyrics to “Every Night”
Even though “Every Night” had been written well before most of the rest of the songs on McCartney, the sentiment actually fits quite well into the overall homey theme of the album. It’s a song about craving domesticity above all else, even if that means a repetitive life. Clearly, McCartney was longing for that kind of refuge, even when The Beatles were still a working entity.
McCartney begins “Every Night” with a bit of a fakeout: Every night, I just want to go out, he sings. As it turns out, it’s more a desire to escape himself and his problems: Get out of my head. The next lines reveal his physical lethargy: Every day I don’t want to get up / Get out of my bed.
The narrator shows no inclination to fill up his mornings and afternoons with activities: Everyday I lean on a lamp post / I’m wasting my time. But that doesn’t exactly pump him with energy for the evenings, due to the problems weighing on him: Every night I lay on a pillow, I’m resting my mind.
This becomes a pattern, one which seems to gobble up long stretches of his life inch by inch: Every morning brings a new day / And every night, that day is through. It all leads to his realization that there’s only thing that gets him through this doldrums: But tonight I just want to say in and be with you.
“Every Night” also features McCartney delivering some wordless falsetto vocals, which seem to represent the narrator cutting his burdens loose and enjoying his time with the one he loves. For Paul McCartney, that was Linda, and her presence not only inspired this song, but it also spurred Macca to record it for posterity.
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