Humanity Explored In Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station
COURTESY OF CAPITOL RECORDS
When people hear Paul McCartney’s name, nostalgia flashes before their eyes. Memories of listening to Hey Jude by The Beatles with family, yelling the lyrics of Band On The Run by Wings in the car and hearing the solemn Blackbird covered by many rising artists come to mind.
McCartney made a home for fans through his connectivity. Through his boy-band presence in the ‘60s, the psychedelic rise of the ‘70s and his roaring rockstar music in the ‘80s, his overall path through music gave fans a soundtrack to their lives. After numerous decades of musical genius, he finally released an album to present his overall self in Egypt Station.
The album presents an emotional exuberance that presents a lifetime of adventure. The vast imagery presented with the album itself, starting with the song Opening Station, makes the listener position themselves in a train.
In every adventure, he presents the ponderous effort of the people’s minds and racing thoughts, almost like the constant rhythm of the train. With his song I Don’t Know, he relates to his audience on an ordinary level, becoming vulnerable. He doesn’t know the journey ahead of him and the next song — Come On To Me — shows the adrenaline rush of excitement and persistence for what is to come.
Each thought presents an escalation in personality. He goes on with his readiness for life with his song Who Cares, dismissing any hardship that is behind him. The song People Want Peace expresses McCartney’s drive for his fans and his understanding of the times around him. The simplicity and complexity of the song Dominoes allow his own experiences to come out and settle a personal mood that feels like a one-on-one conversation.
The album not only has conflicting layers that rise over ashes of broken emotions, but it has a gentle tone that swifts through the melody with ease and gives fans hope.
The last song, Hunt You Down/Naked/C-Link, gives a presentation of McCartney from the past to the future. Its old-school vibe gifts the listeners a blast to the past, and it enters the passenger into the culture-filled experience with its Egyptian-like scales that are involved with the song.
McCartney has risen throughout the music industry with his own personality. Musical history revolves around his own creation and presentation of what music should be. Artists continue to reference him not only because of his legendary status, but because of the nature of the beast — the legend that McCartney is.
Egypt Station is a journey through the mind of the human. McCartney’s approach to the flawed but brilliant human condition and vulnerability is his own ride of a lifetime that even people who are not fans can’t wait to live through.
