Temporary Secretary | |
Cover: | 62341ts.jpg |
Border: | yes |
Type: | single |
Artist: | Paul McCartney |
Album: | McCartney II |
B-Side: | Secret Friend |
Released: | 15 September 1980 |
Recorded: | 1979 |
Genre: | |
Length: | 3:13 |
Label: | Parlophone/EMI |
Producer: | Paul McCartney |
Prev Title: | Waterfalls |
Prev Year: | 1980 |
Next Title: | Ebony and Ivory |
Next Year: | 1982 |
"Temporary Secretary" is a song by Paul McCartney, released as the third single from his album McCartney II in September 1980. Dominated by a dissonant sequenced synthesiser line, NME later described the song as "wonky electropop that didn't sound so much ahead of its time as out of it altogether." While initially met with highly negative critical reception, it has since become a cult classic and favorite among McCartney fans.
McCartney later said that he had had temporary secretaries, and that there was a real Mr. Marks.
"Temporary Secretary" was released as a third single from the album only in a form of 12" single, along with the ten-minute "Secret Friend" as its B-side, but it was limited to 25,000 copies and therefore failed to chart.[7] A 7" single exists only as a demo for radio stations. It exemplifies both the whimsical nature of the album and McCartney's use of synthesizers and other electronics in the creation of the album. McCartney said the song was an "experiment."[8]
McCartney performed "Temporary Secretary" live for the first time 35 years after its release: on May 23, 2015, at the O2 Arena in London.[9] He performed it live at some dates during the 2015 legs of his Out There tour and at some dates during his 2016–2017 One on One tour.
Decades after its release, music website Allmusic.com said of the album, McCartney II:
In contrast, music website popmatters.com said, in reviewing the 2011 reissue of McCartney II:
Beatles biographers Roy Carr and Tony Tyler described the song as built from an initial, repetitive synthesizer theme, with more substantial instrumental portions added over time, and finally an insubstantial vocal.[10] They said the song was done without commitment and that it "grows irritating towards the end."
In 2013, Rolling Stone rated "Temporary Secretary" as McCartney's 36th greatest post-Beatles song, calling it a "cult favorite" and an "oddly catchy electro-pop nugget, about a slightly creepy-sounding guy looking to hire a temp."[11] In 2014, "Temporary Secretary" was ranked as the 167th greatest song of all time by NME.
"Temporary Secretary"
"Secret Friend"