In case you haven’t heard, Paul McCartney has released another album as “The Fireman”. In case you didn’t know, Paul McCartney has occasionally released albums as The Fireman.
I certainly had no idea of this until the late 90s. Not being a particular follower of the Beatles—together or solo—I had no idea about this project until a friend, who knew of my love for side-projects and oddball musical entities, brought this to my attention. What was strange to me wasn’t so much the fact that it exists, as much as the fact that it hardly ever seemed to be mentioned by the music press.
Things are different with this latest release, Electric Arguments. I suppose this is part of his continued offensive to show that The Cute One was experimental too, gosh darnit! The US press was certainly not as interested when he released his last Fireman album in 1998.
And that is when the dream album was dreamed up.
Linda McCartney died in early 1998. The Fireman album was then announced for late 1998. What would the album be like?
I imagined an album where a drum machine pounds, then a cacophony of noise comes on, with Paul’s voice distorted, screaming, crying, moaning, “Linda! Lindaaaaa! Oh my god… waaaaaaaaaauhghhghhhghhghhg! No! no! no! Why?! Arruuurgghh!”, etc., continuously for about 4 minutes, until the track fades out. Then the next track would begin. Again, a drum machine starts a rhythm, only the slightest bit different than the previous song, and again, a howling wall of cacophony and the distorted screams and moans “Lindaaaaaaaaa!!!!!”. Again, for about 4 minutes, until the track fades out. The rest of the album would proceed in a similar way. The rest of the album would fill an entire 80-minute CD.
This would’ve totally reinvented Paul McCartney to the world.
What better time than then, to show an album of a man ripped apart, at his wit’s end, devastated by the loss of his wife of nearly 30 years?
Every time I hear The Fireman mentioned since then, I hope for this album, this McCartney-by-way-of-Merzbow expriment (McCarztbow? MerzCartney?), to arrive.
Maybe, just maybe, one day it will.