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Released in 2018

Fuh You

Written by Paul McCartney • Ryan Tedder

Last updated on March 28, 2021

Album This song officially appears on the Egypt Station Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 2018

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Other songs co-written with Ryan Tedder

Related interviews

“Fuh You” is the 3rd single of Paul’s 2018 album Egypt Station, released on August 15, 2018 – ahead of the release of the album.  This is the only track on the album not produced by Greg Kurstin, and as the consequence the only one produced by Ryan Tedder who is also co-writer of the song with Paul (“Nothing For Free” which only appears as bonus track on some versions of “Egypt Station” was also co-written and produced by Tedder; as well as “Get Enough” released on January 1st, 2019).

From paulmccartney.com, August 15, 2018:

Paul recalls the process behind the new single: “With this one I was in the studio with Ryan Tedder whereas the rest of the album has been made with Greg Kurstin… We were just thinking of ideas and little pieces of melody and chords and the song just came together bit by bit. And then I would try and make some kind of sense of the story. So it was like ‘Come on baby now. Talk about yourself. Tell the truth, let me get to know you’ and basically I wanna know how you feel, you make me wanna go out and steal. I just want it for you. So that was the basic idea and it developed from there… sort of a love song, but a raunchy love song. There you go – fuh you.”

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney interview, from DIY, June 20, 2018:

So out of all the producers that were suggested, I liked Ryan, rung him up and we chatted. He said, ‘What do you hope to get [out of this]?’. I was like, oh I don’t know. And then I thought, come on Paul, don’t be so shy. So I said, ‘A hit?’ And he was like ‘Yeah! Now you’re talking my language! The world loves a hit!’ So that was our brief. To do something commercial. In a week, we ended up with three songs and one of them was ‘Fuh You’, which is on the album.

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney interview, from GQ, September 11, 2018:

Anyway, this new song is really called “Fuck You,” right?

“Not at all! I mean, if you’re lucky, when you’re creating you can have some fun. This song was coming to a close and we were just getting a bit hysterical in the studio, as you do when you’re locked away for long hours, and I said, ‘Well, I’ll just say, “I just wanna shag you.”‘ And we had a laugh. And I said, ‘No, I’ll tell you what we can do is, I can make it questionable as to what it is I’m singing.’ So the actual lyrics are You make me wanna go out and steal / I just want to fuck you or …I just want it for you.” It’s a schoolboy prank. Which we did a lot in the Beatles. And it brings some joy to your tawdry little life. If you listen to it, I don’t actually say ‘fuck,’ because I don’t particularly want to say ‘I just want to fuck you’—I’ve got, like, eight grandchildren.” He considers this. “Of course they’d probably like it better. But anyway.…” And continues. “So I just thought, I can fudge this easily. It was something to amuse ourselves. Hey, listen—when you make these things up, it’s not like writing a Shakespeare play. I mean, it’s intended as a popular song. So you don’t feel like you’ve got to adhere to any rules. And then you do ‘Why don’t we do it in the road?‘ ‘tit-tit-tit-tit-tit-tit,’ ‘She’s a prick teaser.’ It’s kind of pathetic, but actually a great thing in its pathos because it’s something that makes you laugh. So what’s wrong with that?”

Paul McCartney

Ryan Tedder interviewed for NME, May 25, 2019:

What did Paul McCartney want the original lyric in ‘Fuh You’ to be?

(Laughs) So he originally sang ‘I just want to for you’ and I said: ‘Man, to my American brain, it sounds like you’re saying I just want to fuck you – I don’t think you can say that’. He was like (He does a pitch-perfect Macca imitation): ‘But what if it’s true?’ So then he started singing ‘I just want to shag you’, and I was like that doesn’t work either!  We had a back and forth debate and settled on ‘Fuh’. I’m pretty sure that’s how the conversation went.

He was unbelievably incredible. He’s my favourite session of all time. He has the non-stop energy of a 25 year old. Whatever pills or juice he’s on, I need to get because he was just a ball of energy and super talented and kind. Any Beatles song I mentioned, he told me the full story behind it. It was like hanging out with archival footage.

Ryan Tedder – from NME, May 25, 2019

Paul McCartney interviewed for Sodajerker podcast, 2018:

[…] Kind of a mischievous word play on that one?
 
Yeah,well, I mean, you know, if you’re in a studio, you’re there, you’re working,but it’s music, so its a bit of fun and we like to not take it too seriously,so you develop a little camaraderie where you’re having a joke. So on that songwe were making it up and I went out and sang that and we knew it would bemisconstrued, but we were quite glad to put it in. When you read the lyricsit’s perfectly straight, but my daughter, when she heard it, she walked intothe room, she said, ‘did I just hear what I heard,’ [laughter], I said, ‘ldon’t know,’ but yeah, good to have a bit of fun, you know.

Paul McCartney

Greg Kurstin interview, from Rolling Stone, July 3, 2018:

Why did Ryan Tedder wind up producing one of the songs?

He produced “For You.” (sic) That happened because there was a miscommunication with the scheduling and I wasn’t able to work when Paul was off. He wanted to continue to write and record, so his management or someone get in touch with Ryan to try working with him. They created that song at that time.

Greg Kurstin

In September 2018, a music video for “Fuh You“, filmed in the streets of Liverpool, was published. From Rolling Stone:

The black-and-white video opens with a teenage couple sharing a kiss on a front doorstep before the girl’s mother intrudes and sends the boy home. The enamored young protagonist then wanders the streets of Liverpool, singing and dancing along with “Fuh You” as he makes his way home.

Each track of “Egypt Station” has been given individual artwork that was first published on Twitter on August 14, 2018

Lyrics

Come on baby now

Let me look at you

Talk about yourself

Try to tell the truth

I could stay up half the night

Trying to crack your code

I could stay up half the night

But I’d rather hit the road

On the night that I met you

I was on the town

On the night that I met you

I just wanna know how you feel

Want a love that’s so proud and real

You make me wanna go out and steal

I just want it fuh you

I just want it fuh you

Come on baby now

Help me work it out

I won’t let you down

So you don’t need to shout

I could stay up half the night

Playing with your head

I could stay up half the night

But I’d rather go to bed

On the night that I met you

I was on the town

On the night that I met you

I just wanna know how you feel

Want a love that’s so proud and real

You make me wanna go out and steal

I just want it fuh you

I just want it fuh you

And every day

In every way

And every day

In every way

I just wanna know how you feel

Want a love that’s so proud and real

You make me wanna go out and steal

I just want it fuh you

I just want it fuh you

I just wanna know how you feel

Want a love that’s so proud and real

You make me wanna go out and steal

I just want it fuh you

Variations

  • A Album version
  • L1 Live at The Cavern Club

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Fuh You”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Fuh You”

Related films

Videos

Album Fuh You

Album Egypt Station - Traveller's Edition

Album Egypt Station - Traveller's Edition

Concert Sep 07, 2018 in New York

Live performances

“Fuh You” has been played in 72 concerts and 3 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where “Fuh You” has been played

See all concerts where “Fuh You” has been played

Paul McCartney writing

Talk more talk, chat more chat

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AversaS • 6 years ago

I wonder if this is a homage to Brute Force's "The King of Fuh."

The PaulMcCartney Project • 6 years ago

Interesting idea, AversaS ! Guess we will need to wait a bit before knowing more about each track of "Egypt Station" !

Richard • 6 years ago

Absolutely awful track... been fan all my life is this is just so bad

The PaulMcCartney Project • 6 years ago

Thanks Richard. I will resist commenting - as I have realized that I often change my mind about a new song a few times before things settle !

Imo, McCartney often had low points even on his very good albums, and sometimes bad judgement to choose which track to issue as single - so in any case, looking forward to hear the entire album on September 7th !

Robert Bannon • 6 years ago

maybe the worst most embaressing track EVER, in a long line of turkeys.....The other me, the frog song, ebony n ivory, english tea, press, say say say..warm and horrible

The PaulMcCartney Project • 6 years ago

You forgot "Bip Bop" ;)

Mary McGahagan Kauffman • 5 years ago

Who is the female backup singer on Fuh You? I love her voice!

The PaulMcCartney Project • 5 years ago

@mary there is no female vocalist being listed on the official credits.

Linda • 5 months ago

I don't understand why this song gets so much guff from people. I like it and think it's catchy as hell. Also love the Beautiful Boy reference (every day, in every way). In my opinion, it's the only memorable tune on this overlong, directionless album.

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