3 Hit Songs Written but Not Originally Performed by Paul McCartney

If you were able to shrink down and get inside the mind of the Liverpool, England-born artist Paul McCartney, it’s possible what you’d see was a conveyor belt pumping out song after song. Some would be lavish and lush compositions and others would be tight, intimate acoustic numbers. But songs would be all over the place.

Here below, we wanted to explore three songs written by the artist that he gave to others. A trio of tunes McCartney penned and gave away. Indeed, these are three hit songs written but not originaly performed by Paul McCartney.

[RELATED: Paul McCartney: ‘Eroticism Was a Driving Force Behind Everything I Wrote’]

“Bad to Me” by Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas from Little Children (1964)

Written by the former Beatles duo John Lennon and Paul McCartney for Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas, which was a group managed by The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, this song hit No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1963. It’s an early rock tune about love and the risk of losing it. A bit cheesy by today’s standards, the song demonstrates what worked on the airwaves in the early 1960s and showcases the early roots of the Lennon-McCartney bond. On the tune, Kramer sings,

If you ever leave me
I’ll be sad and blue
Don’t you ever leave me
I’m so in love with you

The birds in the sky would be sad and lonely
If they knew that I’d lost my one and only
They’d be sad
If you’re bad to me

“Veronica” by Elvis Costello from Spike (1989)

This tune, which was co-written by McCartney and Elvis Costello, marked the latter’s highest-charting hit in the United States. It peaked at No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100. But that’s what happens when you link up with the Liverpool-born pop star. The song was inspired by Costello’s grandmother, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s. And it’s about memory loss. Not the most obvious subject matter for a pop hit, this tune with a great backbeat nevertheless demonstrates a sticky sensibility. And on it Costello sings,

Is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
What goes on in that place in the dark?
Well, I used to know a girl and I could have sworn
That her name was Veronica

Oh well, she used to have a carefree mind of her own
And a delicate look in her eye
These days I’m afraid she’s not even sure
If her name is Veronica

“I Wanna Be Your Man” by The Rolling Stones (1963)

Perhaps the two biggest rock bands of all time are The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The two groups have had something of a friendly rivalry over the years, so you wouldn’t expect the two to cross over. But this song was written by Lennon and McCartney and first recorded by the blues-rock band led by Mick Jagger. A standalone single, the tune is simple and written from the perspective of someone who wants to be with the object of his affection. On it, Jagger sings,

I wanna be your lover, baby
I wanna be your man
I wanna be your lover, baby
I wanna be your man

Tell me that you love me, baby
Tell me you understand
Tell me that you love me, baby
Tell me you understand

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