The Paul McCartney Lyric That Expresses Frustration With a Fair-Weather Friend

Because of how incredibly well he’s handled his fame and the consistently upbeat demeanor he’s always displayed to the public at large, it’s understandable if we rarely connect Paul McCartney to sour emotions. A closer look at his songbook shows that McCartney has occasionally lashed out, albeit often subtly.

In the 2005 song “Riding to Vanity Fair,” McCartney expressed open disgust at the behavior of a former friend he now wants out of his life. It’s a different side of him than we’re used to hearing, even if the eloquence and cleverness with which he expresses this unfamiliar emotion is very much in keeping with the rest of his work.

“Fair” Treatment

Every career, even one as magical as Paul McCartney’s, endures artistic ebbs and flows. When McCartney settled in to make his 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, it’s fair to say it was in a bit of an ebb. Driving Rain (2001), his only studio album of original material he’d released in the previous eight years, hadn’t quite lived up to his lofty standards.

McCartney made the decision to try a new producer the next time around. Nigel Godrich had made his name at the helm for then-buzzy artists like Radiohead and Beck. At the suggestion of George Martin, McCartney called on Godrich.

Godrich fearlessly confronted McCartney when he felt the material wasn’t up to snuff. That included the early version of “Riding to Vanity Fair.” McCartney was initially disheartened by the criticism, but he rallied to create a moody wonder of a song in the end. He explained in an interview at the time of the album’s release (as reported by Beatles Bible) what he had in mind:

“I just knocked that out. Kept the kind of meaning about you’re approaching someone for friendship and they just kind of don’t want to know. They’re just kind of rejecting you and it’s not about any particular person, it’s about anybody who’s like that which I think we all meet in life, you know, you’re in a great mood with somebody and, ‘Well, I bit my tongue. I didn’t talk too much,’ and it’s one of those songs where you get your own back on those people by writing a song about them and whoever it applies to, people who are just generally a bit sort of, you know, a bit yuck.”

Examining the Lyrics to “Riding to Vanity Fair”

Many fans and critics speculated after the fact that McCartney might have been aiming the song at Heather Mills, whom he had married in 2002 but would later acrimoniously divorce in 2008. McCartney denied this in a later interview. Regardless of the target, it’s clear “Riding to Vanity Fair” was a pricklier and more personal song than many had come to expect from McCartney.

The first few verses seem to gibe with McCartney’s reputation as an easygoing type: I did my best / I used the gentle touch / I’ve done it for so long. But eventually, his patience wears thin: But why pretend? / I think I’ve heard enough / Of your familiar song. He sees his separation from this person as a freeing act: And now that you don’t need my help / I’ll use the time to think about myself.

As the song progresses, the narrator holds back less and less: Do what you have to do / You don’t fool anyone. He feels this person is so off-base in their attempts at amity that he has to spell it out for them, lecturing them on the definition of friendship.

In the final verses, he remembers better times (When every day was young / The sun would always shine). But now, his bitterness rises to the surface: That’s the trouble with friendship, he complains. While he gets hung out high and dry, this person moves on to the next victim: I was open to friendship / But you didn’t seem to have any to spare / While you were riding to Vanity Fair.

Chaos and Creation in the Backyard stands as one of the finest albums of McCartney’s solo career. Maybe it was the stern influence of Godrich, or perhaps it was just a case of the artist at a time in his life where he felt the need to dig deeper and get things off his chest. Regardless, “Riding to Vanity Fair” shows this legend renowned for his niceness letting a little bile spill out, and doing so quite effectively.

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