Paul McCartney wants to revisit 9/11 anthem
Paul McCartney says that he'd like to include his post-9/11 anthem "Freedom" in future concerts. McCartney says he wished that people would hold onto his original intention in writing the song, which was premiered at 2001's The Concert For New York City.
Macca told pitchforkmedia.com that, "I'd very much like it to come back, because to me it's a 'We Shall Overcome' (type-song). That's sort of how I wrote it. It's like, 'Hey, I've got freedom, I'm an immigrant coming to America, give me your huddled masses.' And that's what it means to me, is, 'I used to live in an oppressive regime... but now I'm an American, and don't try to take that away from me.'"
He went on to say that in the months following the song's release, it fell victim to the nation's hawkish climate and was co-opted as symbolizing something much different than his original vision: "I thought it was a great sentiment, and immediately post-9/11, I thought it was the right sentiment. But it got hijacked. And it got a bit of a militaristic meaning attached itself to it, and you found Mr. Bush using that kind of idea rather a lot in (a way) I felt altered the meaning of the song."
McCartney added that, "It was great on the tour immediately post-9/11. It was great to sing it for the American people. It was great for us, it was very healing... it was not militant. It was written from the point of view of, as I say, someone... like let's say, European Jew coming to America. He just got away from Hitler... That particularly happens in America. It happens here in the UK, but America I would reckon is global target of people escaping oppression."
Macca, who witnessed the World Trade Center burning while sitting in a plane a on the tarmac at New York's Kennedy Airport, closed by saying that, "I may tour America next year, I'd like to, and I am wondering whether I can sing it again. Because it certainly was very popular. But I don't know... in the wake of 9/11, that was sort of a good thing, because American spirit was in danger of being squashed."
McCartney's latest album, Memory Almost Full, will be released on June 5th both digitally and at traditional outlets. His entire post-Beatles solo catalogue will also be made available online and as CD reissues starting next month.
Macca will be holding off on launching a full-scale tour in support of Memory Almost Full until next year.
Macca told pitchforkmedia.com that, "I'd very much like it to come back, because to me it's a 'We Shall Overcome' (type-song). That's sort of how I wrote it. It's like, 'Hey, I've got freedom, I'm an immigrant coming to America, give me your huddled masses.' And that's what it means to me, is, 'I used to live in an oppressive regime... but now I'm an American, and don't try to take that away from me.'"
He went on to say that in the months following the song's release, it fell victim to the nation's hawkish climate and was co-opted as symbolizing something much different than his original vision: "I thought it was a great sentiment, and immediately post-9/11, I thought it was the right sentiment. But it got hijacked. And it got a bit of a militaristic meaning attached itself to it, and you found Mr. Bush using that kind of idea rather a lot in (a way) I felt altered the meaning of the song."
McCartney added that, "It was great on the tour immediately post-9/11. It was great to sing it for the American people. It was great for us, it was very healing... it was not militant. It was written from the point of view of, as I say, someone... like let's say, European Jew coming to America. He just got away from Hitler... That particularly happens in America. It happens here in the UK, but America I would reckon is global target of people escaping oppression."
Macca, who witnessed the World Trade Center burning while sitting in a plane a on the tarmac at New York's Kennedy Airport, closed by saying that, "I may tour America next year, I'd like to, and I am wondering whether I can sing it again. Because it certainly was very popular. But I don't know... in the wake of 9/11, that was sort of a good thing, because American spirit was in danger of being squashed."
McCartney's latest album, Memory Almost Full, will be released on June 5th both digitally and at traditional outlets. His entire post-Beatles solo catalogue will also be made available online and as CD reissues starting next month.
Macca will be holding off on launching a full-scale tour in support of Memory Almost Full until next year.
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