My Brave Face

"My Brave Face" is a song by the English musician Paul McCartney, released as a single from his 1989 album, Flowers in the Dirt. Written by McCartney and Elvis Costello, "My Brave Face" is one of the most popular songs from Flowers in the Dirt. It peaked at number 18 in the United Kingdom and at number 25 in the United States. It was McCartney's last top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 until his 2014 collaboration with Kanye West, "Only One", and was the last Billboard top 40 hit by any former Beatle as a solo artist.

"My Brave Face"
7-inch sleeve
Single by Paul McCartney
from the album Flowers in the Dirt
A-side	"Flying to My Home" (12-inch only)
B-side	"Flying to My Home" (7-inch only) "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday "Ain't That a Shame"
Released	8 May 1989 (1989-05-08)[1]
Recorded	23 October 1987, 1 February and October 1988
Studio	Hog Hill Mill (Icklesham, UK) Olympic (London, UK)
Genre	Rock[2]
Length	3:19
Label	Capitol Parlophone
Songwriter(s)	Paul McCartney Elvis Costello
Producer(s)	Paul McCartney Mitchell Froom Neil Dorfsman
Paul McCartney singles chronology
"Once Upon a Long Ago" (1987) "My Brave Face" (1989) "This One" (1989)
Music video
”My Brave Face” on YouTube

Like other songs from Flowers in the Dirt, despite the song's chart success, to date it has not been included on any McCartney compilation album.

Background and recording

"My Brave Face" was one of the first collaborations between Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello. McCartney noted of Costello's influence, "'My Brave Face' was one of the early things we did, and it became a single. I felt that Elvis was pulling it in a little bit of a Beatle-y way—a Beatle-ist direction—but it was fine by me."^[3]

"My Brave Face" was first recorded at sessions overseen by McCartney and Costello in early 1988. Excerpts from this session were eventually used in McCartney's documentary video Put It There, but other than that were not used. The final version of the song was recorded later the same year at Olympic Studios in London, with producer Mitchell Froom joining in on the work.^[4] During the overdub sessions, David Rhodes added an "EBow guitar" in a quick one-day session at Olympic Studios.^[5] According to the Put It There documentary, Costello requested that McCartney bring his iconic Höfner violin bass, which he had not played in years, to the recording session. To this day, Paul still uses this bass, in addition to the Rickenbacker 4001 and his Wal 5-String Customized.

In a 1996 interview, Costello noted the song as an instance where he indulged McCartney's darker side, explaining, "He's thought to be Mr. Sunny but he's got his dark moments, and I like that and really encouraged it. ... People might attribute that to me but he seems to be able to involve that darker side that's there. I haven't got my arm up his back when we're writing. Even 'My Brave Face', which was quite a bright-sounding pop song, is about a guy who's been left by his lover."^[6]

Reception

Cash Box said that "there’s a fine driving feel, a brilliantly scripted and melodic B-section-lift to the chorus—in short, a bunch of neat parts. It doesn’t add up as well as some of Paul’s greatest songs, but it’s certainly a muscular tune, enough to whet our appetites for Paul’s upcoming LP 'Flowers in the Dirt.'"^[7]

Personnel

• Paul McCartney – bass, guitar, tambourine, lead vocals
• Linda McCartney – background vocals
• Hamish Stuart – guitar, background vocals
• Chris Whitten – drums
• Robbie McIntosh – guitar
• Mitchell Froom – keyboards
• David Rhodes – EBow guitar
• Chris David – saxophone
• Chris White – saxophone
• Dave Bishop – saxophone^[8]

Track listings

This song was released on many formats, including the standard 7-inch single, a 12-inch maxi-single, a cassette single, and a CD single.

7-inch single

A-side:

1. "My Brave Face"

B-side:

1. "Flying to My Home"

12-inch single

A-side:

1. "My Brave Face"
2. "Flying to My Home"

B-side:

1. "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday"
2. "Ain't That a Shame"

CD single

1. "My Brave Face"
2. "Flying to My Home"
3. "I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday"
4. "Ain't That a Shame"

Music video

The music video for "My Brave Face" was shot in April 1989, directed by Roger Lunn.^[9] It was frequently seen on video channels that year, and was released in 2007 on the three disc collection The McCartney Years. It features a Japanese McCartney-fanatic who acquires McCartney memorabilia, films, and audio by means of robbery, and, allegedly, through Sotheby's.^[10] The video was shot in both black-and-white and in colour, and it features rare videos of him with The Beatles as well as with Wings. There is a video of him and the rest of the Beatles doing the Charleston, and him and Linda (as well as a visible Joe English in the background) being greeted by people in New Orleans. In the end, the Japanese fanatic gets arrested, and a clip of McCartney looking in the camera is shown, with 2007 McCartney voicing-over on the audio commentary, "What did you expect?"^[10] The video earned a nomination in "Best Video" category on the 1990 Brit Awards.^[11]

Live performances and cover versions

McCartney included the song on his world tour in 1989–1990; a recording of it is included on the live album Tripping the Live Fantastic. It was also included in some of the small shows McCartney played in 1991. He has not performed the song since.

SR-71 recorded the song for the McCartney tribute album Listen To What The Man Said.^[12] Star Collector performed it for another tribute album, Love In Song: An Atlanta Tribute To Sir Paul McCartney.^[13]

Charts

Chart (1989)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[14]	30
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[15]	16
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[16]	18
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[17]	29
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[18]	32
France (SNEP)[19]	31
Ireland (IRMA)[20]	6
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21]	12
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22]	15
Norway (VG-lista)[23]	4
Spain (AFYVE)[24]	13
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[25]	19
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26]	25
UK Singles (OCC)[27]	18
US Billboard Hot 100[28]	25
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[29]	4
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[30]	12
West Germany (GfK)[31]	29

References

1. "New Singles". Music Week. 6 May 1989. p. 42.
2. Rolli, Bryan (11 January 2024). "Top 35 Songs of 1989". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
3. "Paul McCartney Shares Memories Making 'Flowers in the Dirt'". People. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
4. Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms To Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium (Chesterfield, MO: 44.1 Productions, 2000), 301-302.
5. Luca Perasi, Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969-2013), L.I.L.Y. Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-88-909122-1-4, p.288.
6. Fay, Liam (24 July 1996). "Eclectic warrior". Hot Press: 30–32.
7. "Top of the Pops" (PDF). Cash Box. 20 May 1989. p. 22. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
8. "Flowers In The Dirt". Graham Calkin's Beatles Pages. Jpgr.co.uk. Retrieved 20 August 2011.
9. Calkin, Graham (2008). "The McCartney Years". Graham Calkin's Beatles Pages. Retrieved 17 February 2010.
10. The McCartney Years, 2007
11. "The BRITs 1990". brits.co.uk. British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
12. "McCartney Tribute Album To Benefit Breast Cancer", Billboard, 20 August 2001
13. "Love In Song: An Atlanta Tribute To Sir Paul McCartney". Amazon. 2000.
14. "Paul McCartney – My Brave Face". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
15. "Paul McCartney – My Brave Face" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
16. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6396." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
17. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 6398." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
18. "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 6, no. 25. 24 June 1989. p. 21.
19. "Paul McCartney – My Brave Face" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
20. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – My Brave Face". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
21. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 25, 1989" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
22. "Paul McCartney – My Brave Face" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
23. "Paul McCartney – My Brave Face". VG-lista. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
24. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
25. "Paul McCartney – My Brave Face". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
26. "Paul McCartney – My Brave Face". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
27. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
28. "Paul McCartney Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
29. "Paul McCartney Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
30. "Paul McCartney Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
31. "Offiziellecharts.de – Paul McCartney – My Brave Face" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 24 July 2023.