Take It Away (Paul McCartney song)

Last updated
"Take It Away"
Take It Away.jpg
Single by Paul McCartney
from the album Tug of War
B-side
  • "I'll Give You a Ring" (7")
  • "I'll Give You a Ring" / "Dress Me Up as a Robber" (12")
Released26 April 1982 (1982-04-26) (Tug of War album)
21 June 1982 (1982-06-21) (7")
5 July 1982 (1982-07-05) (12")
Recorded16–18 February 1981 [1]
Studio AIR Studios, Montserrat
Genre Pop
Length4:13(album version)
3:59 (single/video version)
Label Parlophone/EMI
Songwriter(s) Paul McCartney
Producer(s) George Martin
Paul McCartney singles chronology
"Ebony and Ivory"
(1982)
"Take It Away"
(1982)
"Tug of War"
(1982)
Music video
"Take It Away" on YouTube

"Take It Away" is a single by the English musician Paul McCartney from his third solo studio album Tug of War (1982). The single spent sixteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, reaching #10 and spending five consecutive weeks at that position. [2] [3] It reached #15 in the UK. [4] The music video, directed by John Makenzie, features former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and long-time producer George Martin, both of whom played on the track, as well as actor John Hurt and Linda McCartney. [5]

Contents

Although there is a segue from "Tug of War" into this song on the album, the single version instead starts cleanly but fades out earlier at the end.

Track listings

7" single

  1. "Take It Away" – 3:59
  2. "I'll Give You a Ring" – 3:05

12" single (black vinyl everywhere else; clear yellow vinyl in Japan) [6]

  1. "Take It Away" – 3:59
  2. "I'll Give You a Ring" – 3:05
  3. "Dress Me Up as a Robber" – 2:40

Personnel

"Take It Away"

"I'll Give You a Ring"

Critical reception

Billboard called it "a superior single that fuses a driving rhythm with a sleek, polished production" and said it was McCartney's "most assured, seamless, irresistible" single since the mid-1970s. [7] Cash Box said that it's a "dense, multi-layered pop confection" that "keeps the listener on his/her toes throughout the song, going from a lazy tropical-type rhythm to a galloping brass section." [8] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso rated it as the best song on Tug of War, stating that it starts "with an off-kilter rhythm courtesy of Ringo Starr and all of the tasteful hallmarks of a George Martin production" and becomes "one of McCartney's patented pop confections, featuring a feverish horn counterpoint, deceptively intricate bass, and an utterly indecipherable narrative." [9] DeRiso also praised Eric Stewart's backing vocals. [9]

Chart performance

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References

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  5. Fly TIA: Behind The Scenes on 'Take It Away'. 2015.
  6. Paul McCartney – Take It Away at Discogs
  7. "Top Single Picks". Billboard. July 3, 1982. p. 60. Retrieved 2023-01-27.
  8. "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. July 3, 1982. p. 10. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  9. 1 2 DeRiso, Nick (10 January 2019). "The Best Song From Every Paul McCartney Album". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
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