My Brave Face

"My Brave Face"
7" sleeve
Single by Paul McCartney
from the album Flowers in the Dirt
A-side	My Brave Face (7" and 12") Flying to My Home (12" only)
B-side	Flying to My Home (7" only) I'm Going to Be a Wheel Someday/Ain't That a Shame (12")
Released	8 May 1989 (United Kingdom) 27 May 1989 (United States)
Format	7" single; Maxi single; Cassette single; CD single
Recorded	1989
Genre	Rock
Length	3:19
Label	Capitol Records (US/Canada) Parlophone
Writer(s)	Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello
Producer	Paul McCartney, Mitchell Froom, Neil Dorfsman
Paul McCartney singles chronology
Once Upon a Long Ago (1987) "My Brave Face" (1989) "This One" (1989)

"My Brave Face" is a single from Paul McCartney's 1989 album, Flowers in the Dirt. Written by McCartney and Elvis Costello, "My Brave Face" is one of the most acclaimed songs from Flowers in the Dirt. It peaked at #18 in the United Kingdom a week after its debut, and #25 in the United States 7 weeks after its debut.^[1][2] It was McCartney's final top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and also the final solo top 40 hit of any of the ex-Beatles. The song was also massively popular in Spain, where Los 40 Principales played the track in high rotation throughout the month of July 1989 and it peaked at #1.

Recording

"My Brave Face" was first recorded at sessions overseen by McCartney and Costello in early 1988. Excerpts from this session were eventually used in McCartney's documentary video Put It There, but other than that were not used. The final version of the song was recorded later the same year at Olympic Studios in London, with producer Mitchell Froom joining in on the work.^[3] According to the Put It There documentary, Costello requested that McCartney bring his iconic Höfner violin bass, which he had not played in years, to the recording session. To this day, Paul still uses this bass, in addition to the Rickenbacker 4001 and his Wal 5-String Customized.

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – bass, guitar, tambourine, lead vocals
• Linda McCartney – background vocals
• Hamish Stuart – guitar, background vocals
• Chris Whitten – drums
• Robbie McIntosh – guitar
• Mitchell Froom – keyboards
• David Rhodes – EBow Guitar
• Chris David – saxophone
• Chris White – saxophone
• Dave Bishop – saxophone^[4]

Track listing

This song was released on many formats, including the standard 7" single, a 12" maxi-single, a cassette single, and a CD single.

7" single

A-side:

1. "My Brave Face"

B-side:

1. "Flying to My Home"

12" single

A-side:

1. "My Brave Face"
2. "Flying to My Home"

B-side:

1. "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday"
2. "Ain't That a Shame"

CD single

1. "My Brave Face"
2. "Flying to My Home"
3. "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday"
4. "Ain't That a Shame"

Music video

The music video for "My Brave Face" was shot in April 1989, directed by Roger Lunn.^[5] It was frequently seen on video channels that year, and was released in 2007 on the three disc collection The McCartney Years. It features a Japanese McCartney-fanatic who acquires McCartney memorabilia, films, and audio by means of robbery, and, allegedly, through Sotheby's.^[6] The video was shot in both black-and-white and in colour, and it features rare videos of him with The Beatles as well as with Wings. There is a video of him and the rest of the Beatles doing The Charleston, and him and Linda (as well as a visible Joe English in the background) being greeted by people in New Orleans. In the end, the Japanese fanatic gets arrested, and a clip of McCartney looking in the camera is shown, with 2007 McCartney voicing-over on the audio commentary, "What did you expect?"^[6]

Live performances and cover versions

McCartney included the song on his world tour in 1989-1990; a recording of it is included on the live album Tripping the Live Fantastic. It was also included in some of the small shows McCartney played in 1991. He has not performed the song since.

SR-71 recorded the song for the McCartney tribute album Listen To What The Man Said.^[7] Star Collector performed it for another tribute album, Love In Song: An Atlanta Tribute To Sir Paul McCartney.^[8]

Notes

1. ^ "Paul McCartney Charts and Awards". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-mccartney-p4865/charts-awards/billboard-singles. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 
2. ^ "Official Charts: Paul McCartney". The Official UK Charts Company. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/artist/_/paul%20mccartney/. Retrieved 2011-10-13. 
3. ^ Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms To Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium (Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions, 2000), 301-302.
4. ^ "Flowers In The Dirt". Graham Calkin's Beatles Pages. Jpgr.co.uk. http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pcsd106.html. Retrieved 2011-08-20. 
5. ^ Calkin, Graham (2008). "The McCartney Years". Graham Calkin's Beatles Pages. http://www.jpgr.co.uk/dvd_macca_years.html. Retrieved Feb. 17, 2010. 
6. ^ ^{a b} The McCartney Years, 2007
7. ^ "McCartney Tribute Album To Benefit Breast Cancer", billboard.com, August 20, 2001
8. ^ "Love In Song: An Atlanta Tribute To Sir Paul McCartney". http://www.amazon.com/Love-Song-Atlanta-Tribute-McCartney/dp/B000056ULL.