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Released in 2005

I've Only Got Two Hands

Written by Paul McCartney • Instrumental

Last updated on January 17, 2021

Album This song officially appears on the Chaos and Creation in the Backyard Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 2005

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 2005, when Paul McCartney was 63 years old)

Master album

Related session

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

“I’ve Only Got Two Hands” is a track from Paul McCartney’s 2005 album “Chaos And Creation In The Backyard“. From an interview of Paul McCartney by Gary Crowley:

So,  Anyway wasn’t actually the very last track. There’s a hidden 3 part instrumental that ends the album…

We’d done a lot of the album.  We were almost finished and we just thought, you know, ‘How about opening the album with just something for nothing, not like a song?  Let’s just open it with like a little jam thing, a noise, just something to get your attention, then we’ll go into the first song,’ so we said, ‘O.K. great,’ and I always like that where you sort of throw away the rule book and you go, ‘O.K. let’s just do something completely different’.  It’s not a song, it’s not a thing, you just go and play a bit and Nigel said, ‘Why don’t you just have a couple of ideas, songs, and we’ll make them.  They don’t need to be long.  We’ll just see which one works,’ so he said, ‘Just  go and do two things.  While you’re doing one, do two,’ so I thought, ‘O.K. I’ll do three just to show him,’ so I came out here.  The piano was set up here and just sort of started doing the first little vibe, second little vibe and I said, ‘O.K. I’ve got a couple of ideas here,’ so he said, ‘That’ll do,’ so we recorded the piano bit first’.  (Sings) just really nothing, just in your face, sticking your tongue out and erm, we were joking.  It was like as if the grown-ups had gone away, you know, they’d left us the studios, so ‘O.K. come on, then,’ and I just got on the drumkit, just thrashed that out and we recorded in the space of like about ten minutes, well, maybe an hour, but we just did all three of them and in the end instead of choosing one of them for the beginning we stuck three of them all together and put them at the end.

Paul McCartney – from 2005 UK promotional-only interview CD, recorded July 2005 at Air Studios in London

Officially appears on

Bootlegs

Videos

Album Chaos And Creation In The Backyard (Special Edition)

Live performances

Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.

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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