Paul McCartney
(I Want To) Come Home

The latest unreleased track by Sir Paul McCartney dates back to 2009 and it went somewhat unnoticed since it is a single released online only.

"(I Want to) Come Home” somewhat recalls the genesis of a beautiful song of his from 2001, "Vanilla Sky", because both tracks are composed specifically for a film, and never included in any album. In that case, the film was "Vanilla Sky", in this case, the film is "Everybody's Fine", a movie starring Robert De Niro released in 2009.

Reviewing a single may seem symptomatic of excessive interest, but the track and the artist in question deserve the zeal necessary for this type of in-depth look. Paul hadn't written such a beautiful ballad since the splendid "Chaos And Creation In The Backyard", his best album of the 2000s. The scent seems to be just the same as one could breathe on that album; a careful and essential arrangement, all instruments played by Paul (except for the strings), and a high-class melody.

The atmosphere is melancholic and introspective, with the piano in a simple cadence typical of many of his other compositions, as well as the other instruments: all at the service of the vocals.

Singing halfway between the absorbed and the resigned.

"Home. Where there’s nothing but sweet surrender, to the memories from afar"

"Home. To the place where the truth lies waiting we remember who we are"

"Casa, dove non c'è altro che una dolce resa ai ricordi lontani."

"Casa. Nel luogo dove la verità giace nell'attesa di ricordare chi siamo"

The track is beautiful, simple but not trivial. It’s not one of Paul McCartney's compositional peaks, but many of his emulators (the world of quality pop is full of them) would do well to take notes.

The master's touch is evident in the harmonic construction of the piece, especially in the modulation between the verse and the bridge, enriched with unexpected and pleasantly bittersweet chords.

In my opinion, a stroke of genius.

8/10