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Released in 1971

Too Many People

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on April 24, 2022

Album This song officially appears on the Ram LP.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1971

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1970, when Paul McCartney was 28 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Other message songs to John Lennon

Related interviews

Related articles

“Too Many People” is the opening song of Paul and Linda McCartney’s 1971 album “Ram“. The lyrics were interpreted as targeting John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which Paul acknowledged years later.

I was looking at my second solo album, Ram, the other day and I remember there was one tiny little reference to John in the whole thing. He’d been doing a lot of preaching, and it got up my nose a little bit. In one song, I wrote, “Too many people preaching practices,” I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John and Yoko. There wasn’t anything else on it that was about them. Oh, there was “Yoko took your lucky break and broke it in two.

Paul McCartney – From Playboy interview, 1984

At the time it was surely an understatement to say that there was “one tiny little reference” to John Lennon in this song. “Too Many People” opens with the words “Piss off,” which McCartney eventually admitted was a direct attack on Lennon.

Piss off, cake. Like, a piece of cake becomes piss off cake, And it’s nothing, it’s so harmless really, just little digs. But the first line is about “too many people preaching practices.” I felt John and Yoko were telling everyone what to do. And I felt we didn’t need to be told what to do. The whole tenor of the Beatles thing had been, like, each to his own. Freedom. Suddenly it was “You should do this.” It was just a bit the wagging finger, and I was pissed off with it. So that one got to be a thing about them.

Paul McCartney – From interview with Mojo, 2001

“Too Many People” was really a message to John across the airwaves. I did feel like he was, you know, preaching a little bit about what everyone should do, how they should live their lives, and I felt – at the time – that some of it was a bit hypocritical. So in the song “Too Many People”, I started off “Too many people preaching practices”. And it was directly aimed at John, but it was about our relationship at that time, and me feeling that I didn’t need to be preached at.

Paul McCartney – From “RAM Archive Collection“, 2012

Are there any songs which reply to John?

I don’t write anything consciously. Sometimes when I’m pissed off with John over the Apple business a line might creep in. I suppose when I wrote ‘Too many people preaching practices/Don’t let them tell you what you want to be’ was at him.

Paul McCartney – Interview with Disc And Music Echo, November 1971

I think the only [song] really where I kind of criticised [John]- and it was in my usual kind of quite veiled manner – was in ‘Too Many People’

Paul McCartney – From “RAM Archive Collection“, 2012

Following the release of Ram, John Lennon pointed out several songs that he claimed were attacks on him, among them being “Too Many People“:

There were all the bits at the beginning of Ram like ‘Too many people going underground’. Well that was us, Yoko Ono and me. And ‘You took your lucky break’, that was considering we had a lucky break to be with him.

John Lennon

From Wikipedia:

In response, Lennon wrote “How Do You Sleep?” for his album Imagine, an attack at McCartney featuring musical contributions from George Harrison. McCartney later wrote “Dear Friend”, a truce offering to Lennon, and released it on the album Wild Life with his band, Wings.

McCartney sang falsetto during parts of the bridge. The guitar solo between the second bridge and third stanza is played by Hugh McCracken. The second solo after the final bridge is accompanied by a drum stick on the side of a floor tom.

“Too Many People”, I think, is one of his best songs. That was a drum part where I couldn’t just play a straight beat – you had to think of some ways to make it a little bit more Beatle-esque, shall I say.

Denny Seiwell – From “RAM Archive Collection“, 2012

Paul didn’t play the song live during the 1972 Wings tours, but decided to play it during his 2005 US tour.

From Better than looking in the mirror — Some of Paul McCartney’s handwritten RAM lyrics -… (tumblr.com)

Lyrics

Too many people going underground,

Too many reaching for a piece of cake,

Too many people pulled and pushed around,

Too many waiting for that lucky break.

That was your first mistake,

You took your lucky break and broke it in two,

Now what can be done for you?

You broke it in two.

Too many people sharing party lines,

Too many people ever sleeping late,

Too many people paying parking fines,

Too many hungry people losing weight.

That was your first mistake,

You took your lucky break and broke it in two,

Now what can be done for you?

You broke it in two.

Too many people preaching practices,

Don't let ‘em tell you what you wanna be,

Too many people holding back,

This is crazy, baby, it's not like me.

That was your last mistake,

I find my love awake and waiting to be,

Now what can be done for you?

She's waiting for me.

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Too Many People”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Too Many People”

Live performances

“Too Many People” has been played in 30 concerts.

Latest concerts where “Too Many People” has been played

See all concerts where “Too Many People” has been played

Going further

The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present

"Too Many People" 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. 1) 1970-1989

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

Buy on Amazon

Paul McCartney writing

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Mona • 8 years ago

Pretty sure Paul played the solos on Too Many People. There was an interview with McCracken himself, unfortunately I can't find the website anymore as I read it quite some time ago, where he talks about Paul doing it in one take.

The PaulMcCartney Project • 8 years ago

Thanks Mona. You're right! Reading Luca Perasi on "Paul McCartney - Recording Sessions (1969-2013)":

"McCracken recalled that McCartney had recorded the blistering central solo in a single take. A funny cacophonic of many overdubbed acoustic guitars ends the track"

Jim Haase • 1 year ago

Great job rhyming "practices" with "back, this is..."

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