McCartney, Jet, and 30 years wasted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vQq7GjTrT4&mode=related&search=
I've probably told most of you this story before, but for those of you who came in late: Jet is my fave Paul McCartney solo song. A near-perfect power pop anthem. If my remaining brain cells remember correctly, it was a huge hit in the Spring of '74. I went out and bought the single as soon as I heard it. But I was always puzzled about the lyrics*. They're pretty obtuse. Who is Jet? What kind of name is that? What does it mean? What's the deal with the Sergeant major, and what do suffragettes have to do with anything? WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT?!?!?
These question plagued me, vexed me; always stuck in the back of my mind. Now, there are a lot of rock songs with equally obscure lyrics, but I either didn't care, or was eventually able to at least get the gist of them, or the writer would spill the beans in some interview, but Jet remained un-dissected. It haunted me.
Thirty years went by. And like some old war wound, I kept feeling an occasional twinge of pain from having not solved the mystery. And then, one night on TV, there was a McCartney interview, and the announcer stated that after the next commercial break, they'd ask him about Jet! My quest was about to end, the secrets of the Universe were about to be opened to me! I was in near religious ecstasy. My entire body entered a state of rigidity, my face bare inches from the TV screen with the volume turned to maximum - I wanted to experience this moment in all its metaphysical glory. Shakti awaited, as every fiber of my being strained to absorb every sound wave and electron from the television.
Paul came on, the interviewer asked him about Jet, and he basically said he'd just been stoned, sitting outside on a hill and written whatever came into his head at the time. It had no meaning - not even to him! It might as well have been the old moon/June rhyme scheme. It was just some stoner stringing word together! My thirty year wait was a complete waste of time! Worlds collapsed, oceans dried up, day turned to night, and I turned to Virginia Gentleman...
A little part of me died that day. And I think I've developed a nervous tick since then. Oh, it's still a great pop song, and I still love McCartney, but I'd love him dead, as well as alive...
*Found here: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/paul_mccartney/jet.html
I've probably told most of you this story before, but for those of you who came in late: Jet is my fave Paul McCartney solo song. A near-perfect power pop anthem. If my remaining brain cells remember correctly, it was a huge hit in the Spring of '74. I went out and bought the single as soon as I heard it. But I was always puzzled about the lyrics*. They're pretty obtuse. Who is Jet? What kind of name is that? What does it mean? What's the deal with the Sergeant major, and what do suffragettes have to do with anything? WHAT THE HELL IS HE TALKING ABOUT?!?!?
These question plagued me, vexed me; always stuck in the back of my mind. Now, there are a lot of rock songs with equally obscure lyrics, but I either didn't care, or was eventually able to at least get the gist of them, or the writer would spill the beans in some interview, but Jet remained un-dissected. It haunted me.
Thirty years went by. And like some old war wound, I kept feeling an occasional twinge of pain from having not solved the mystery. And then, one night on TV, there was a McCartney interview, and the announcer stated that after the next commercial break, they'd ask him about Jet! My quest was about to end, the secrets of the Universe were about to be opened to me! I was in near religious ecstasy. My entire body entered a state of rigidity, my face bare inches from the TV screen with the volume turned to maximum - I wanted to experience this moment in all its metaphysical glory. Shakti awaited, as every fiber of my being strained to absorb every sound wave and electron from the television.
Paul came on, the interviewer asked him about Jet, and he basically said he'd just been stoned, sitting outside on a hill and written whatever came into his head at the time. It had no meaning - not even to him! It might as well have been the old moon/June rhyme scheme. It was just some stoner stringing word together! My thirty year wait was a complete waste of time! Worlds collapsed, oceans dried up, day turned to night, and I turned to Virginia Gentleman...
A little part of me died that day. And I think I've developed a nervous tick since then. Oh, it's still a great pop song, and I still love McCartney, but I'd love him dead, as well as alive...
*Found here: http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/paul_mccartney/jet.html
posted by mendip at
10:01 PM
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