| Ever Present Past | |
| Cover: | Paul McCartney Ever Present Past Single Cover.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Paul McCartney |
| Album: | Memory Almost Full |
| B-Side: |
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| Released: |
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| Recorded: | March 2006 |
| Studio: | Hog Hill Mill (Icklesham, UK)[1] |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Length: | 2:59 |
| Label: | |
| Producer: | David Kahne |
| Prev Title: | Nod Your Head |
| Prev Year: | 2007 |
| Next Title: | Heal the Pain |
| Next Year: | 2008 |
"Ever Present Past" is a song by Paul McCartney and is the second track on his 2007 album Memory Almost Full. The song was also released as the first single from that album in the United States on 15 May 2007. The video for the song was premiered on 1 October 2007. McCartney played all the instruments on the song.[2]
The song was released as the second British single from Memory Almost Full on 5 November 2007 and debuted a week later at #85 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] The single package included a unique "cut out and make your own mobius strip" insert.
The song was used in promotions for the premiere of Private Practice on ABC in Fall 2007.
The video was directed by British director Phil Griffin. McCartney enters an elegant hall, where a group of black-dressed and very similar female dancers walk around. He meets his doppelgänger, who starts dancing with the others while singing the song. The two McCartneys meet up two more times. At the end, McCartney is left alone in the middle of the room, bends on his knee and fades away slowly. This and the presence of the doppelgänger have been interpreted[4] as contemporary references to the Paul is dead urban legend.
Personnel per Andrew Grant Jackson[5]
"Ever Present Past" debuted the week ending 6 June 2007 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart at #10[6] and the Pop 100 chart at #93.[7] A week later as Memory Almost Full debuted at #3 in the Billboard 200, the song debuted at #27 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, mirroring the placement of McCartney's 2006 single "This Never Happened Before", ultimately reaching #16 on that chart.[7] The video (currently posted on YouTube) has received over a million views. The song also reached #42 in Japan, #1 in Russia,[8] #29 in Scotland,[9] #48 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart,[10] #16 on the US Adult Alternative Songs chart[11] and #25 on the UK Physical Singles Chart.[12]