20 June 1966
The novel in ‘Paperback Writer’ is churned-out hackwork: “It’s a thousand pages, give or take a few / I’ll be writing more in a week or two”. Alas, I have to say that ‘Paperback Writer’ itself, like some other made-to-order Beatle hits we’ve seen at number one so far, has the same touch of churned-out hackwork about it too. (Honestly, otherwise I love The Beatles.)
Yes, the snarling guitars and thunderous bass sound great, as does the Wall-of-Sound-alike pre-chorus drop-out into echo reverb. And if anyone could wring a viable melody out of a mostly one-chord verse it’s Paul McCartney in peak ’65-66 Beatles form. However, as a song ‘Paperback Writer’ is paper-thin whimsy, and the larky ‘Frère Jacques’ backing vocals in the last verse only add to the tossed-off air. Good for a quick dip in, but essentially putdownable.
