| Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five | |
| Cover: | Paul McCartney - Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Paul McCartney and Wings |
| Album: | Band on the Run |
| A-Side: | Band on the Run |
| Released: | 28 June 1974 |
| Recorded: | October 1973[1] |
| Studio: | AIR Studios, London, UK |
| Length: | 5:29 |
| Label: | Apple |
| Producer: | Paul McCartney |
| Chronology: | Wings |
| Prev Title: | Jet |
| Prev Year: | 1974 |
| Next Title: | Walking in the Park with Eloise |
| Next Year: | 1974 |
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" (sometimes written as "1985") is a song by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, released as the final track on their 1973 album Band on the Run. It has been featured on the 2001 documentary DVD Wingspan and Paul McCartney and Wings' 1974 TV special One Hand Clapping. A 2016 remix of the song was nominated for a Grammy Award. The song was referenced in Brett Easton Ellis’s novel Glamorama, driving a group of fictional supermodels to extreme terrorist acts.
Paul McCartney has said that the song originated with just the first line.
The tune is the climactic track from the album Band on the Run. It continues the album's theme of escape by describing the singer achieving artistic freedom through love.[2] Author Andrew Grant Jackson calls the lyrics "gibberish" and mere placeholders for the excitement and "cinematic purpose" of the music."[3]
The song has a grandiose ending with a full orchestra and the band. Other instrumentation includes mellotron, organ and horns.[3] The album version ends with an excerpt of the opening song's chorus.[3] This song is featured on several episodes of Trigger Happy TV. In its early life, it was simply titled "Piano Thing".
Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson rated the song as McCartney's 8th most underrated song, saying that "A funky groove holds the song together as Paul delivers a gritty bluesy vocal."[4]
Personnel per The Beatles Bible.[5]
"Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five" was never performed live by Wings. McCartney performed the song live for the first time ever during his 2010–2011 Up and Coming Tour. He played the song live again during his 2011–2012 On the Run Tour, his 2013–2015 Out There Tour, his 2016–2017 One on One Tour, his performance on 26 July 2018 in the Liverpool Cavern Club, his 2018–2019 Freshen Up tour, at and on his 2022 Got Back tour.[6] On 25 June 2022, a week after his 80th birthday, he performed the song as part of his Saturday night headline act, on the Pyramid stage, at the Glastonbury Festival.[7] [8]
The Golden Dogs included a cover version on their 2006 album Big Eye Little Eye.
In 2016, German producer Timo Maas and Canadian DJ James Teej released a remix of the track with McCartney's approval. Their version received a Grammy nomination for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards.[9] [10]