Pretty Boys (feat. Khruangbin)

Paul McCartney wrote this mainly acoustic song about certain photographers who behave improperly when in the studio and treat their subjects as objects. He explained to NME: "I had read a newspaper article about some male models who'd got annoyed at a photographer who'd been too aggressive and a bit abusive, so I started to imagine a fictional tale about these male models."

Oh, here come the pretty boys A line of bicycles for hire Objects of desire When they're working for the squire McCartney told The New York Times that while walking along a New York street he noticed a big line of bicycles for hire. It struck him the Big Apple's CitiBike public bicycle sharing system and London's similar scheme had bikes "like models, there to be used."

The ex-Beatle recorded the song for McCartney III, which features McCartney on all the instruments. On this song, he plays the same upright bass Bill Black owned and played when touring with Elvis Presley. McCartney told Uncut magazine that the historic instrument was a gift from his first wife, Linda. "We had quite a few acquaintances in Nashville," he recalled. "One of the guys who we knew happened to know Bill Black's family. He was chatting to Linda and said, that old bass is just sitting in the barn. Nothing's going to happen with it. I think Linda thought, 'Gosh, talk about a birthday present!' She organized it all and gave it to me. I've been playing it ever since. I can't play it very well because I'm an electric bass guy. But it's a great sound and as long as the part I'm doing is simple, I can manage it."