No official video, yet, but the NME has a report from last nights "Paul McCartney: In Conversation" at the Roundhouse in London's Camden Town area.
The event saw Paul talking about his new album with comedian Rob Brydon.
From the NME:
The event was a listening party for the new album, with the audience in the sold-out venue (which has a capacity of 1,700 for seated events such as this) treated to McCartney’s recollections between tracks.
Towards the end of the two-hour playback, talk turned to the lyrics of ‘Momma Gets By’, a plaintive ballad that harks back to the early 20th century pop standards that have long-since inspired McCartney. Lyrically, it concerns a put-upon wife who shoulders the burden of family life while her feckless husband shirks his responsibilities.
“Momma gets by while papa gets high,” McCartney sings, “She makes enough to raise a family.” Later, he adds: “Even though he’s complicated, she takes it in her stride / What are his silly faults compared to what she feels inside?”
Certain corners of the internet and music press have questioned the song’s gender politics. One fan wrote on Reddit: “It’s a nice melody, lovely string arrangement, but the lyrics and message… that it’s ok to have a deadbeat drug addict absentee husband / co parent if you love him? Really odd, and so impersonal!”
In an otherwise positive review of the album, Record Collector’s Daryl Easlea wrote: “‘Momma Gets By’, perhaps questionable in its gender stereotyping, has a long-suffering wife and mother putting up with a man who ‘gets back and heads for the sack’ and ‘gets high’ while ‘she takes it in her stride’ as she ‘loves him, with all her heart and soul’.”
...Speaking to Brydon about the song, McCartney explained: “Sometimes you write songs about somebody you know, or an experience that you’ve had. And sometimes you just make ‘em up ‘cause you’re in a more theatrical mood.
"I imagined this [track] like a play. I don’t know the characters, but I’m imagining the woman and then the song is told from the perspective of the kid. So it just kind of unfolded itself. I was imagining the musical Porgy and Bess and that sort of thing. It’s like a little theatrical story; a little musical theatre moment about this woman.”
He continued: “Some people would say, ‘Oh, she’s a bit of a sucker ‘cause the guy’s a bit of a waster.’ But for me she’s a very strong woman and it explains that in the song. I’m very proud of her and women like her.”
As the crowd cheered, McCartney added: “There’s a lot of strong women out there.”
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