When Paul McCartney released “Coming Up” in 1980, the world was still trying to understand who he was without The Beatles. The breakup was a decade behind him, but the shadow of that seismic legacy still followed him everywhere. In response, McCartney did something brilliantly unexpected: he made a song that sounded like nothing he had ever done before. Playful, futuristic, funky, and full of joy, “Coming Up” became a declaration of creative renewal — a burst of fresh air from an artist proving he was nowhere near finished.
The track opens with a bright, rubbery bass line and a drum groove that feels both tight and mischievous. Then Paul enters with a voice altered by tape speed, sounding sharp, youthful, and utterly different from the warm tenor fans knew. It was McCartney once again refusing to repeat himself. Instead of chasing nostalgia, he was chasing possibility.
“You want a love to last forever…”
The lyric is simple, optimistic, and full of Paul’s trademark encouragement. “Coming Up” is not a love song in the traditional sense — it’s a song about momentum, about rising energy, about the feeling that something better is just around the corner. It feels like sunlight pushing through a window. It feels like a new beginning.
Musically, the song is a playground of ideas. Recorded almost entirely by Paul alone — drums, bass, guitars, keys, vocals — it shows his genius for building layers that remain cohesive and catchy. The horns burst like confetti, the rhythm swings with confidence, and the hook is irresistible. There is a sense of experimentation here that recalls his earliest solo work, but now polished by nearly twenty years of experience.
And then came the music video — one of the most charming, iconic visuals of McCartney’s career. Paul appears as multiple versions of himself:
the bassist,
the drummer,
the frontman,
the horn player,
the keyboardist…
It’s funny, clever, and surprisingly profound. A visual metaphor for Paul’s identity as a one-man creative engine, capable of being an entire band by himself. Fans loved it. Critics loved it. Even John Lennon, famously tough to impress during the early solo years, said the song jolted him back into musical inspiration — “That’s Paul at his best,” Lennon admitted.
The live version, recorded in Glasgow, brought something different: raw energy. Released as a single in the U.S., it reached No. 1 on the charts. The crowd roars, the band pushes harder, and Paul delivers it with the swagger and charm of a man who knows exactly who he is. This version, stripped of the tape-speed vocals, reveals the core of the song: infectious enthusiasm. The sense that Paul is inviting the world to join him in something joyful.
💬 “Coming up — like a flower!”
It’s an image perfectly in line with Paul’s worldview. Growth. Renewal. Life pushing upward no matter what.
By 1980, the world had changed. Punk and new wave were pushing aside the old guard, and younger musicians were trying to break every rule imaginable. Instead of resisting, Paul joined the fun. “Coming Up” fits perfectly into that landscape — quirky, bright, experimental, and full of rhythmic punch.
Yet the song remains unmistakably McCartney. Beneath the clever production tricks and the playful structure sits the same heart that wrote “Blackbird,” “Penny Lane,” and “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Paul writes songs that lift people up — and “Coming Up” is one of his most joyful lifts.
Today, the song feels even more meaningful. When Paul performs it live, his older voice brings warmth and humor to the track. The joy is still there. The optimism still shines. The rhythm still makes crowds dance. But now it carries the perspective of a man who has spent a lifetime rising, reinventing, and moving forward.
Because “Coming Up” isn’t just about excitement.
It’s about renewal.
It’s about choosing light.
It’s about waking up, breathing in, and feeling a surge of yes — even when the world is uncertain.
In every beat, every horn blast, every joyful shout, Paul McCartney reminds us of something he has proven again and again:
The spirit of creation doesn’t fade.
It just keeps coming up.