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Released in 1993

Biker Like An Icon

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on June 13, 2019

Album This song officially appears on the Off The Ground Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1993

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related interviews

From Wikipedia:

“Biker Like an Icon” is a song by Paul McCartney from his 1993 album Off the Ground. It was released as 7″ and CD singles. Commenting this song, Paul McCartney stated that the line “Biker like an icon” came from a conversation about photo cameras with his wife Linda McCartney. The phrase “I like a Leica” became “I like a Nikon” and the lyrics were built around that line with a story of a girl loving a biker like an icon.

The music video for the song first aired on MTV’s First Look television show. The clip was repeated the following day.

From the “New World Tour” tour book:

PAUL: “Linda was talking about cameras, and she said, I Jike a Leica, which became I like a Nikon. I started messing with that and it became a biker who had a girl who loved him like an icon – Biker Like An Icon. I like confusing titles. I remember when John and me would always look at the new titles in the American charts and get intrigued by things like Quarter To Three by US Bonds — what could that be about? It was very important to us to get a title that had that buzz. Think of our titles after, I dunno, I Wanna Hold Your Hand –  Hard Day’s Night, Strawberry Fields, Penny Lane, Fixing A Hole.

ROBBIE McINTOSH: Biker Like An Icon was the first thing we recorded after Paul first played us the songs. All we were doing was getting sounds. We took about 15 minutes to learn the shape of it, then we just did it.

HAMISH STUART: A few weeks later we listened back to it, looked at one another and thought, Are we going to spend a day trying to better this? No Point. The magic is there.

“Biker Like an Icon” was the first song recorded for the “Off The Ground” album. As Paul explained in a Club Sandwich interview, this was a very spontaneous recording:

‘Biker Like An Icon’ is a first take and there are a couple of others too [on the album]. [Biker Like An Icon is] such a simple little song that you can ruin it if you go over it 50 times. Everyone understood how it went, and Robbie must have had some idea what he was going to do on slide guitar because he just delivered a solo – I didn’t tell him when to do it, he just felt it.

This, I think, is the secret of the album. With Flowers In The Dirt I experimented with computers, and working with producers who take a long time over everything. There are some interesting aspects to working like that but not enough to excite me. That’s what happened with something like ‘Biker’ – we just did it and got lucky. And the more you listen to the album the more you get to feel that we were enjoying ourselves.

Paul McCartney
“Biker Like An Icon” illustration used on official Tshirt for The New World Tour

The music video for “Biker Like An Icon” was directed by Richard Heslop, who previously directed the video for “Deliverance“.

A short road movie shot on the road from L.A to Las Vagas in 1993 for Paul McCartneys song ” Biker like an icon”. Cameramen Seamus McGarvey and Richard Heslop . Staring Tamzin Haughton and Mike Leigh.. Shot on 16mm black and white film stock. Produced by Polly Tapson . Directed by Richard Heslop . Thank you Paul it was a dream Job.

Richard Heslop

Lyrics

There was a girl who loved a biker

She used to follow him across America

But the biker didn't like her.

She didn't care, she still persisted

Though her brother said she was twisted

And the family said they wouldn't miss her

Anyway.

She loved the biker like an icon

Gazing at his picture everyday.

She loved the biker like an icon

Slowly watching precious water drip away.

She did her best to fix a meeting

She pulled it off one night in Hollywood

When he met her he couldn't let her get away.

He didn't ask for her permission

He took advantage of her position

But he was always her ambition

Anyway.

She loved her biker like an icon

Gazing at his picture everyday.

She loved her biker like an icon

Slowly watching precious water drip away.

The family tried so hard to find her

They showed her picture across America.

But no trace of her sweet face

Was ever found.

She loved her biker like an icon

Gazing at his picture everyday.

She loved her biker like an icon

Slowly watching precious water drip away.

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Biker Like An Icon”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Biker Like An Icon”

Related films

Videos

Album Off The Ground

Live performances

“Biker Like An Icon” has been played in 83 concerts and 1 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where “Biker Like An Icon” has been played

See all concerts where “Biker Like An Icon” has been played

Going further

Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 2) 1990-2012

This new book by Luca Perasi traces Paul McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1990 to 2012 in the form of 250 song entries, filled with details about the recordings, stories behind the sessions and musical analysis. His pop albums, his forays into classical and avant-garde music, his penchant for covering old standards: a complete book to discover how these languages cross-pollinate and influence each other.

The second volume in a series that has established itself as a unique guide to take the reader on a journey into the astonishing creativity of Paul McCartney.

Read our exclusive interview with Luca Perasi

Buy on Amazon

Paul McCartney writing

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