There aren’t many musicians who have weathered through rock and roll history quite like Paul McCartney. From his start playing clubs in the heart of Liverpool to performing at stadiums worldwide, McCartney’s enduring ability to play shows up into his 80s comes from his good-time spirit whenever he takes to the stage. Out of all the classic songs that McCartney has played throughout the years, there is one track that has earned its fair share of mileage every step of the way.
Before he had started doing his solo tours, McCartney was already a veteran of the touring circuit throughout his work with The Beatles. While it was hard to discern what the hell was being played over the throngs of screaming fans, McCartney was known to put everything he could into his performance, usually playing songs that were a mix of the ballads from their albums and the rave-up rockers like Little Richard’s ‘Long Tall Sally’.
When the band left the road, though, it would be anyone’s guess as to what their next phase would be after they split up in the 1970s. While McCartney found a way forward by forming his band, Wings, he had a rule about not delivering too many Beatles songs whenever he played. After playing the college circuit throughout the band’s early days, McCartney would ultimately play a handful of Beatles cuts during his later years, offering up acoustic versions of tracks like ‘Yesterday’ and ‘I’ve Just Seen a Face’.
After Wings dissolved in the 1980s, though, McCartney would make his first steps as a solo act, which included bringing the lion’s share of his Beatles tracks back into heavy rotation. While many Wings songs would get mileage in his solo show, like ‘Live and Let Die’ and ‘Band on the Run’, the Beatles tracks would dominate most of the group’s setlist, being a 50/50 split between his 1960s material and whatever solo material he was working on in the meantime.
Out of all the songs to have made it onto the setlist throughout the years, McCartney has played ‘Let It Be’ more than any other song in his catalogue, performing it in front of an audience 706 times. While most fans will know that he likes to bring his show to a close these days with tracks like ‘Hey Jude’, there’s something pure about halting every set with the song from The Beatles’ final album.
Compared to the usual solo tunes or uptempo tracks, McCartney’s gentle hymn began life when he saw a vision of his mother in a dream during a hard time in The Beatles. Taking the advice he had heard in the dream, ‘Let It Be’ became both a reassurance from beyond the grave and a solemn prayer for humanity, knowing that everyone could live together in happiness if they would let their grievances be.
Although McCartney would continue to make brilliant music outside The Beatles, ‘Let It Be’ stuck around long enough to be played at the final show at Shea Stadium as well, with McCartney closing up the stadium that he had first played on The Beatles’ stadium tours in the early 1960s. While Macca may be able to promote a good time wherever he goes, it seems like the entire world can live in harmony whenever he plays this song for a crowd.
