# Paul McCartney (Super Bowl Halftime Show) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 7, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732 "2005-02-07T01:19:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/1 "2005-02-07T01:19:45Z")
Does Paul McCartney have any new material? Or is he doing the Elvis thing nowadays and just performing oldies? (I’m not a big Beatles/McCartney fan, so I haven’t followed his career.) ---
**Author:** ![Sgt.Pepper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sgt.Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sgt.Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/2 "2005-02-07T01:22:38Z")
He did “Drive My Car”, “Get Back”, “Live and Let Die”, and “Hey Jude”. I was happy with the performance, and thought it was pretty good. I was afraid it would be a pop-ish type half-time show. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/3 "2005-02-07T01:23:50Z")
Hey, at least he has good songs. That’s more than you can say about some of the performers in the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/4 "2005-02-07T01:24:31Z")
Awesome. **Live and Let Die** is always a big crowd pleaser, with all the pyrotechnics. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/5 "2005-02-07T01:24:41Z")
He did 3 Beatles songs and one song from his solo (maybe Wings?) days. None the material was newer than 31 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/6 "2005-02-07T01:25:19Z")
> [@Sgt.Pepper](#): > > He did “Drive My Car”, “Get Back”, “Live and Let Die”, and “Hey Jude”. I was happy with the performance, and thought it was pretty good. I was afraid it would be a pop-ish type half-time show. Those are all songs from my childhood. Has he done anything since then? (I guess there was _Ebony and Ivory_, but that was like 25 or 30 years ago, right?) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/7 "2005-02-07T01:29:36Z")
I was uncharacteristically moved. I dunno why. I enjoy the Beatles, but am not a dedicated fan. And yet, for some reason I found it to be a powerful performance. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/8 "2005-02-07T01:30:27Z")
I am shocked, SHOCKED that the NFL would allow a performance that glorifies drug use: > [@](#): > > Jojo left his home in Tucson, Arizona > For some California grass. What kind of message does that send to our children? ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/9 "2005-02-07T01:33:57Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I am shocked, SHOCKED that the NFL would allow a performance that glorifies drug use:What kind of message does that send to our children? That drug use is better than partial nudity? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/10 "2005-02-07T01:36:21Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Those are all songs from my childhood. Has he done anything since then? (I guess there was _Ebony and Ivory_, but that was like 25 or 30 years ago, right?) If you mean “done anything” literally, his most recent album of new material was _Driving Rain_, released a little over three years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/11 "2005-02-07T01:36:46Z")
I turned the TV off partway through his performance and looked at porn. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/12 "2005-02-07T01:38:40Z")
I have no complaints with either the song selection or the performance, except that I wouldn’t have minded if it had been longer. The Super Bowl Halftime Show is the appropriate time to pull out the crowd-pleasers, not the new, lesser-known material. McCartney has kept on recording new material throughout his career. His most recent album was, I think, three or four years ago, but it’s been longer than that since he’s had a big hit. ---
**Author:** ![asrivkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9d8465/32.png) [@asrivkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asrivkin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/13 "2005-02-07T01:43:05Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Those are all songs from my childhood. Has he done anything since then? (I guess there was _Ebony and Ivory_, but that was like 25 or 30 years ago, right?) Well, realistically I don’t see what else he could have done. His post-Beatles hits aren’t really well-suited for a Superbowl setting. He’s expressed the sentiment recently that when he goes on tour he tries to play the songs that the audience wants to hear. When was the last time he had 12 minutes on US TV? I think he had to play those songs. I might have picked “I Saw Her Standing There” over “Drive My Car’”, but why quibble? He’s kind of stuck at this point. You wouldn’t want to pay $75 a ticket for the mixed bag that’s his later stuff. But he definitely gives the impression he’s coasting on the work he did 40 years ago… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/14 "2005-02-07T01:43:13Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > I am shocked, SHOCKED that the NFL would allow a performance that glorifies drug use:What kind of message does that send to our children? I don’t know if you’re serious, but I read that NFL officials went over the lyrics of his proposed songs word by word, despite their status as classic rock. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/15 "2005-02-07T01:44:20Z")
OK, yeah, so McCartney is one of the few Big Name performers you can be certain will NOT be having a wardrobe malfunction. And at a major pro sports event, the tolerance for substance use is kinda implicit… But to go back to Johnny’s question: Yes, he still puts out new stuff now and then (e.g. _Freedom_ in 2001) but if someone shows up with a big check for a 20-minute set, he KNOWS he’s getting paid to do _Jude_ plus 12 minutes of other Beatles/Wings. And he’s OK with that, he _knows_ he hasn’t had a Big Hit since the 80s. His new stuff does show up when he does actual full-on concerts, but even then it’s necessarily the lesser part of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/16 "2005-02-07T01:46:59Z")
McCartney has released somewhere around three dozen albums since leaving The Beatles, including greatest hits, live albums, and other compilations. Looks to be about 20 albums of original material. Here’s a [discography](http://www.mplcommunications.com/mccartney/Discography_Albums.asp) page listing them all. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mike\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_H)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/17 "2005-02-07T01:48:23Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > I don’t know if you’re serious, but I read that NFL officials went over the lyrics of his proposed songs word by word, despite their status as classic rock. So I take it they rejected \* Why Don’t We do it in the Road? \* 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/18 "2005-02-07T01:48:56Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > I don’t know if you’re serious, but I read that NFL officials went over the lyrics of his proposed songs word by word, despite their status as classic rock. I was mocking the NFL’s new-found morality, but if what you say is true, perhaps **asterion’s** conclusion is correct; the NFL believes a bare breast is far more threatening to the fabric of society than illegal drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/19 "2005-02-07T01:51:24Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > OK, yeah, so McCartney is one of the few Big Name performers you can be certain will NOT be having a wardrobe malfunction. And at a major pro sports event, the tolerance for substance use is kinda implicit… Judging by the outfits the NFL cheerleaders wear, so is partial nudity. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732/20 "2005-02-07T02:00:56Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > That drug use is better than partial nudity? Come to think of it, I don’t particularly want to see Paul McCartney nude. Not even partially… Not even with heavy drug use. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/paul-mccartney-super-bowl-halftime-show/288732.md?page=2)