Top 10 Best Songs by Paul McCartney
When you think about Paul McCartney, you're not just thinking about one of the most successful musicians of all time. You're thinking about a guy who's been cranking out iconic tunes since the '60s and somehow never ran out of ideas. He was a driving force behind The Beatles, a key figure in Wings, and he's had a solo career that most artists would trade their entire catalogs for. This list includes songs from all those stages and even more. If McCartney had a hand in writing it or released it under his name, it's part of the conversation here.Maybe you're into his raw emotional ballads or his genre-hopping experiments. Maybe it's the big, stadium-ready tracks that get you going or the softer piano-driven moments that stick with you. This is all about recognizing the full range of McCartney's music. Not just the radio favorites, but also the songs that live quietly in your playlists or hit you out of nowhere during a late night listen.
You hear his voice and you instantly feel like you're feeling the same way he does. He is a master class. He gets people involved in the song, and that's the reason everyone loves him. I was really amazed when I heard him for the first time.
His best solo but developed during his time with The Beatles. Best solo is Band on the Run. Fantastic beginning to end and not a silly love song.
Played at my wedding and a song I never get tired of listening to. Absolutely love this song!
I remember when this song first came out on 45 RPM vinyl record. I couldn't get a copy for many weeks at the store. Over and over, the clerks said they got some in but were already gone. Compared to the other music at the time, it was a miraculous song, a MONSTER! Every major TV talk show had to have The Beatles play it live on their show, which was the status symbol of that era. It created a sense of sophistication in rock and roll never before present.
If this list deals with any song he wrote, whether with The Beatles, Wings, or solo, this is the best song he wrote. One of the most iconic songs in popular music history. It can have so many different meanings and interpretations, even though we all know why he wrote the song. The greatest song that involves audience participation, and probably one of the top 5 greatest rock songs ever written.
Whenever The Beatles played live, there was screaming throughout their songs. The exception was this song, Yesterday. You could hear a pin drop when McCartney took the stage.
When McCartney hit the last note, normal service resumed, and the crowd screamed once more. Fifty years on, McCartney still gets the same reaction when he sings the song at his concerts. The audience is in awe of the song. Legendary.
This song has two records that still stand today. Yesterday was the most remade song between 1965-1986, remade over 1,600 times. Yesterday and You've Lost That Loving Feeling have been played on American radio more than any other songs.
The perfect song structure. The best example of using different kinds of music.
Possibly the best James Bond theme song.
Live and Let Die. Doo doo doo doo.
One of the great masterpieces by Paul McCartney, this simple yet powerful song instills one with hope that even in the darkest of times, we should search for a silver lining and just relax, let it be.
Let It Be is amazing. My dad says it is a masterpiece, and I agree. I have grown up around this music. It is awesome, nothing like Miley Cyrus or Jay-Z. The difference is nothing beats this, and everything beats that. Both are great!
My favorite Beatle: all of them haha.
A poetic statement on loneliness, isolation, life, and death. The sum of one's life. One of the MOST unique and groundbreaking compositions in rock's history. An amazing ARTISTIC statement in a music that had NOT been considered ART prior! The Beatles, through McCartney, found a new sophistication and depth with "Eleanor Rigby." Paul's "story in a song" approach was never more vividly realized!
Haunting melody atop a classical string quartet. "Ah, look at all the lonely people." As Paul suggests, we ALL should "look" more often. We needn't look too far as McCartney reminds us on "Eleanor Rigby." A masterpiece!
The best Paul McCartney song, in my opinion. Amazing harmony and the instruments all perfectly played. In this song, McCartney sings fantastically, and his lyrics are very good. I would recommend this as the best with no hesitation.
An absolute obscure gem from his better solo period. He did justice with it when he started to play the song live on his latest tours.
One of the best McCartney songs of his solo career.
The Newcomers
Criminally underrated! One of his best, if not the best!
Can't believe this isn't on the list yet. It's great!
Sir Paul's best! Also, this page should ONLY have Paul McCartney's solo songs and his songs with Wings. Beatles songs should stay on the Beatles page.
Great upbeat rock/power pop song from 1973. Probably my favorite Paul McCartney song. He did this single with Wings.
Just ahead of Live and Let Die and Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five, this is the best song of his Wings/solo era.
A classic duet with Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney himself.
A combination of both legends of our time who will never be replaced again for sure.
This song to me is the 7 years of The Beatles put into a medley. This sums up the feelings of happiness and hardships endured to reach this point. Even in the final moments of The Beatles, he is enjoying every second and putting everything into the last 10 minutes of Beatles' life from "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window" all the way through to "The End." The medley is the symbol of what The Beatles achieved in just a few years, the change in music itself.
The best part of the medley is the "Golden Slumbers" section. "Fill your eyes, smiles await you when you rise." So strong and powerful.
If you think Lennon and McCartney were worst enemies and they didn't care about each other, listen to this. This is an underrated masterpiece. This should get more attention from Lennon fans and is one of my favorite songs of all time.
A heartfelt song to John Lennon after his death. Definitely a higher contender.
How is Penny Lane not in the top 10? Masterpiece.
Best lyric, best melody, best production!
Wings were so cool. They could do progressive rock epics in the late '70s. When punk was trying to destroy prog, Pink Floyd and Wings showed who's boss.
Great progressive rock from the fourth greatest band of the '70s. Long live Wings.
Band on the Run on acid. Best rock number together with Monkberry Moon Delight.
A MIRACLE composition. Dark yet light, seemingly effortless melody woven between D and Dm. Arguably one of THE BEST lyrics McCartney has ever written. "The Fool on the Hill" is based on Paul's personal feelings of isolationism, yet once again, Paul broadens the tone somehow and includes ALL OF US!
Written in an era when many social, political, artistic, and religious leaders were breaking new ground against the odds and against the established "norm." "The Fool on the Hill" could easily be construed as an empathetic observation of the plights experienced by Gandhi, MLK, Malcolm X, RFK, and Jesus of Nazareth, not to mention The Beatles themselves.
"The Fool on the Hill" clearly expresses the frustration of one who is gently preaching to a reluctant, if not hostile, "flock." The tone of world events seems to have filtered into this personal song's narrative in a poignant manner. Paul's live presentation of "The Fool on the Hill" during the "Tripping the Live Fantastic Tour" lends validation to this theory for sure! "The Fool on the Hill" is Paul McCartney alive, aware, in the thick of it, introspective, and at his VERY, VERY BEST!
Harmonies, melodic, uplifting, nostalgic. My favorite song ever. It does not get the recognition I feel it should.
Such inspiring lyrics.
Fun fact: Paul McCartney was at a party and he heard the song God Only Knows by the band The Beach Boys off their album Pet Sounds. The song impressed him as one of the most beautiful songs ever made. He might have used some of those words exactly. That night, he went home and wrote Here, There, and Everywhere.
Most underrated Paul and Beatles song ever. Top 10 for both Paul and the Beatles.
With this song, Paul proved that he not only wrote ballads but could also write some loud and dirty music.
