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Released in 1997

If You Wanna

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on September 24, 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 1993, when Paul McCartney was 51 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related songs

Related interviews

“If You Wanna” is a song from 1997 album “Flaming Pie“. From the liner notes:

Having renewed their friendship – and musical kinship- working on ‘Young Boy’, Paul and Steve Miller combined again, in similar fashion, with ‘If You Wanna’. The song was already a couple of years old at the point of recording, having been composed when Paul McCartney’s “New World Tour” reached Minneapolis, and a day off, in May 1993, which resulted in numerous hours inside a skyscraper hotel room that extended its head into the clouds. Inspired by being in (still then The Artist Known As) Prince’s home city. Paul sat with a guitar and wrote a ‘driving across America’ song.

I wanted to write something that would reflect America, for when you’re driving across the desert on that big road with the flat horizon. I’ll take you for a ride in my Cadillac…I’ll take you to The Coast for a holiday…When they say The Coast, the don’t mean Blackpool

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

We had a day off in Minneapolis when we were on tour. Linda was going off to do something and I stayed behind in the room and wrote a song on guitar. Recording wise, I used the same process as the other songs I did with Steve Miller: me on drums, Steve on guitar, both playing acoustic guitars, I did the vocals and produced Steve’s guitar stuff. This is the kind of song you might hear when you’re driving across the desert in America, Easy Rider country.

[If You Wanna is] a very stereotyped American road song. I wrote this when we were in Minneapolis on tour. We were in a skyscraper with its head in the clouds, literally. We had a day off between shows, and I was inspired because it’s Prince’s hometown and I like his stuff. It has simple chords most of the stuff on this album is simple.

I just wanted to write something that was rocking, the kind of thing you could hear when you’re driving across the desert on that big road with the flat horizon. I love all that.

Paul McCartney, quoted in The Beatles Monthly N°253, May 1997

“If You Wanna“ was performed during the soundcheck of the San Antonio concert (on May 29, 1993), after days of being written (the Minneapolis concert was on May 23th).

Lyrics

If you wanna

If you wanna

If you wanna love me again

I'll take you for a ride in my Cadillac

He'll be in the front, we'll be in the back

When you're ready

Let me know

I'll be waiting

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

And if you wanna

If you wanna

If you wanna do it again

I'll take you to the coast for a holiday

You can be my guest

You can let me pay-yeah

When you're ready

Well, let me know

I'll be waiting

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

Whenever you're ready

When you want to love me

This is what you need

To be thinking of me

When you plant the seed of love

When you're ready

Let me know

I'll be waiting

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

Well, if you want to love me

This is what you need

To be thinking of me

When you plant the seed

The seed of love

If you wanna

If you wanna

If you wanna love me again

I'll take you for a ride in my Cadillac

He'll be in the front, we'll be in the back

When you're ready

Let me know

I'll be waiting

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

To make arrangements for the trip

Variations

  • A Album version
  • A2020 2020 remaster
  • B Home Recording
  • C Demo
  • D From "Flaming Pie" EPK #2
  • D1 From "Flaming Pie" EPK #2 - With voice over the track
  • L1 Only live version, during a 1993 soundcheck

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “If You Wanna”

Videos

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Album Flaming Pie - Archive Collection

Live performances

“If You Wanna” has been played in 1 soundchecks.

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

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