The Lost Macca/McManus Masterpiece

 

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, three Macca/McManus demos failed to get to a final master release. One of them only appeared on an officially released Record Store Day cassette (!), not even the super deluxe version of "Flowers In The Dirt." That track is "I Don't Want To Confess," and it's a track I occasionally obsess over.

It's the one demo that not only sounds unfinished, but also as if both Paul and Elvis out wrote each other to the point of neither feeling quite sure where they were or where they should be going. But that is why I think this demo could have been their masterpiece. 

"I Don't Want To Confess," in just two and a half minutes, never offers an obvious hook. That sounds like a bad thing when talking about pop music, but in this case, it feels more like a game of chicken between the two writers. Every part, every harmony, every change is a challenge, not just to the listener, but to the writers themsleves. I found myself hooked to every section and idea. They've written something so beautifully complex, they couldn't quite grasp it themselves. So, they called it a day.

As much as I would love to see this song built to something huge, I think I am satisfied with imagining what could have been. "I Don't Want To Confess" makes me feel like there is always a possibility.