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Released in 1997

Great Day

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on September 25, 2020

Album This song officially appears on the Flaming Pie Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1997

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1974, when Paul McCartney was 32 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related interviews

Related articles

I didn’t want to end the album on a big note. It was a trick similar to what we did on the end of Abbey Road with Her Majesty, a surprise to deflate any pomposity.

Paul McCartney, interview by USA Today, May 1997

“Great Day” is the fourteenth and final song on Paul’s 1997 album “Flaming Pie“. The song was recorded 5 years earlier, even before “Off The Ground” was published; but it has even older roots, as explained in the album liner notes:

Seeking a short, simple song to close Flaming Pie, Paul McCartney has searched back 25 years to find “Great Day”, an acoustic number that he and Linda used to perform ‘sitting around the kitchen or when the children were dancing’. The candlelit evenings in Long Island, enforced by Hurricane Bob in August 1991, not only led Paul to write “Calico Skies” but also found him plucking this one from the memory vault. So, a year later, in the same session that he recorded his new number with George Martin, Paul also committed “Great Day” to tape for the first time (despite it’s years), not changing a hair of the arrangement or lyric.

It’s just a little upbeat song of hope – to the point and in the spirit of the whole album.

Paul McCartney, from the liner notes of “Flaming Pie”
Paul McCartney, in Club Sandwitch n°82, Summer 1997:

This is here to balance the “big-ness” of the previous track, following on from ‘Beautiful Night’ in the way that ‘Her Majesty’ came after The End’ on Abbey Road. ‘Great Day’ is a song that Linda and I used to sing when the kids were very small, a simple acoustic number with a good feel. I’ve always liked the song but never really had an opportunity to record it, so during the ‘Calico Skies’ session with George Martin, since it had been so easy to record that one little acoustic thing, I told George that I had this song too. The song is identical to how we used to do it 25 years ago.

“Great Day” was previously heard as an instrumental in the 1974 Backyard film. Also some are seeing similarities between “Great Day” and the verse melody of 1972 “Big Barn Bed“.

“Great Day” was performed live only once during the 2003 Adopt-A-Minefield gala, and was heard on very rare occasions during soundchecks.

“Great Day” was remastered in 2016 for inclusion on the “Pure McCartney” compilation, and then in 2020 for the “Flaming Pie Archive Collection“, both times by engineer Alex Wharton. As explained on the Steve Hoffman forum:

It’s interesting that for both ‘Pure McCartney’ in 2016 and the new 2020 remaster the polarity is different. Which means something went wrong in the final mastering stage of the original 1997 issue. Because ‘Pure McCartney’ worked from a compressed and limited 1997 master, and this 2020 remaster from a tape without that compression and limiting.

by forum resident “mindgames”

Lyrics

When you're wide awake

Say it for goodness sake,

It's gonna be a great day.

While you're standing there

Get up and grab a chair,

It's gonna be a great day.

And it won't be long, oh no

It won't be long, it won't be long, no no

It won't be long, it won't be long, oh no

It won't be long, it won't be long, ooh yeah

Ooh, ooh, yeah

Gonna be a great day

And it won't be long, oh no

It won't be long, it won't be long, no no

It won't be long, it won't be long, oh no

It won't be long, it won't be long, oh.

When you're wide awake

Say it for goodness sake,

It's gonna be a great day.

While you're standing there

Get up and grab a chair

It's gonna be a great day.

Variations

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Great Day”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Great Day”

Related film

  • Great Day

    2020 • For Paul McCartney • Directed by Sarah Randell

Videos

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Live performances

“Great Day” has been played in 1 concerts and 4 soundchecks.

Latest concerts where “Great Day” has been played

Going further

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present

"Great Day" is one of the songs featured in the book "The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present," published in 2021. The book explores Paul McCartney's early Liverpool days, his time with the Beatles, Wings, and his solo career. It pairs the lyrics of 154 of his songs with his first-person commentary on the circumstances of their creation, the inspirations behind them, and his current thoughts on them.

Buy on Amazon

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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Abraão • 4 years ago

In my opinion, this is a clear rereading (reincarnation) of Hey Diddle. Both for the emphasis on the verses "won't be long", and for the fingerstyle on the acoustic guitar.

The PaulMcCartney Project • 4 years ago

@Abraão thanks for your comment ! both songs date from the early 70s, so indeed, there is a closeness to those two tracks ! thanks !

Steve • 2 years ago

Just wondering if there was a meaning to the line 'It won't be long'. What won't be long? Was Paul anticipating something at that time?

Bob • 1 year ago

The melody of "Great Day" can be heard at the end of the reprise of "Ram On" on the Ram album. It had been kicking around since the early seventies.

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