Released in 1998
The Light Comes from Within
Written by Paul McCartney • Linda Eastman / McCartney
Last updated on November 10, 2020
Released in 1998
Written by Paul McCartney • Linda Eastman / McCartney
Last updated on November 10, 2020
Album This song officially appears on the Wide Prairie Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 1998
This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:
March 1998
Recording "The Light Comes from Within"
Mar 18, 1998
Editing "The Light Comes From Within"
Jan 22, 1999
McCartneys still making sweet music
Nov 19, 1998 • From USA Today
The Light Comes From Within – recorded on March 18, 1998, by Paul, Linda and James and released on October 26, 1998 on Linda’s posthumous album Wide Prairie and in January 1999 also as a single.
The Light Comes From Within – ‘censored version’, released in January 1999 on a UK 1-track promoonly CD-R acetate.
From Wide Prairie liner notes:
If I Got Up showed Linda’s strong opposition to oppression, then The Light took it a few steps further. During the last couple of years of her life, we were required to make many trips ‘up to London’ for one treatment or another. We always tried to put the journey time to good use. She and I talked a lot about this album, and the lyrics to this song were finished during one such trip. When we came to record the vocal, which was sadly to be her last, I said half-jokingly, “you can’t sing this”. She looked at me with a sparkle in her eye and said “You wanna bet?”
It was her answer to all the people who had ever put her down and that whole dumb male chauvinist attitude that to her had caused so much harm in our society. God bless her… my little baby literally had the last word. She also loved the idea of our son James playing guitar on it.
Paul McCartney
You say I'm lazy
You say I don't fit
Yakes one to know one
You make me sick
You say I'm simple
You say I'm a hick
You're fucking no one
You stupid dick
Oppression won't win
The light comes from within
I need a sense of cause
I wanna smell the flowers
You need complete control
You wanna build more towers
You try to change me if you could
I see the trees, you saw the wood
You say I'm different
You say we don't click
I say you're crazy
You make me sick
I say you're greedy because you scheme
You say I'm foolish because I dream
Oppression won't win
The light comes from within
I need a sense of cause
I wanna smell the flowers
You need complete control
You wanna build more towers
I say you're greedy because you scheme
You say I'm foolish because I dream
Oppression won't win
The light comes from within
Official album • Released in 1998
2:59 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Hofner bass, Piano, Producer, Wurlitzer Linda Eastman / McCartney : Electric piano, Lead vocals James McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Keith Smith : Recording engineer
Session Recording: Mar 18, 1998 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
The Light Comes From Within / I Got Up / Seaside Woman
CD Single • Released in 1999
2:57 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Hofner bass, Piano, Producer, Wurlitzer Linda Eastman / McCartney : Electric piano, Lead vocals James McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Keith Smith : Recording engineer
Session Recording: Mar 18, 1998 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
CD Single • Released in 1999
2:56 • Studio version • A1
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Hofner bass, Piano, Producer, Wurlitzer Linda Eastman / McCartney : Electric piano, Lead vocals James McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Keith Smith : Recording engineer Gregg Baggott : Editing
Session Recording: Mar 18, 1998 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Session Editing: Jan 22, 1999 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Official album • Released in 2019
2:59 • Studio version • A2019 • 2019 remaster
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Hofner bass, Piano, Producer, Wurlitzer Linda Eastman / McCartney : Electric piano, Lead vocals James McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Keith Smith : Recording engineer
Session Recording: Mar 18, 1998 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flaming Pie - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
2:59 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Hofner bass, Piano, Producer, Wurlitzer Linda Eastman / McCartney : Electric piano, Lead vocals James McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Keith Smith : Recording engineer
Session Recording: Mar 18, 1998 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flaming Pie - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2016
2:56 • Studio version • A1 • Censored version
Paul McCartney : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Electric piano, Hofner bass, Piano, Producer, Wurlitzer Linda Eastman / McCartney : Electric piano, Lead vocals James McCartney : Acoustic guitar, Electric guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Keith Smith : Recording engineer Gregg Baggott : Editing
Session Recording: Mar 18, 1998 • Studio Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Session Editing: Jan 22, 1999 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Album Wide Prairie
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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.
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