"Ever Present Past" is a song by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and is the second track on his 2007

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Memory Almost Full ''Memory Almost Full'' is the fourteenth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney. It was released in the United Kingdom on 4 June 2007 and in the United States a day later. The album was the first release on Starbucks' Hear Music la ...

''. The song was also released as the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

from that album in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on 15 May 2007. The video for the song was premiered on 1 October 2007. McCartney played all the instruments on the song. The song was released as the second British single from ''Memory Almost Full'' on 5 November 2007 and debuted a week later at #85 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

(see

2007 in British music This is a summary of 2007 in music in the United Kingdom. Events *1 January **George Shearing is knighted for services to music in The Queen's New Year Honours List. Evelyn Glennie becomes a Dame. Imogen Cooper, John Rutter and Rod Stewart ...

). The single package included a unique "cut out and make your own

mobius strip Moebius, Möbius or Mobius may refer to: People * August Ferdinand Möbius (1790–1868), German mathematician and astronomer * Theodor Möbius (1821–1890), German philologist * Karl Möbius (1825–1908), German zoologist and ecologist * Paul ...

" insert. The song was used in promotions for the premiere of ''

Private Practice Private practice may refer to: *Private sector practice **Practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiati ...

'' on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in Fall 2007.

Music video

The video was directed by British director Phil Griffin. McCartney enters an elegant hall, where a group of black-dressed and very similar female dancers walk around. He meets his

doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...

, who starts dancing with the others while singing the song. The two McCartneys meet up two more times. At the end, McCartney is left alone in the middle of the room, bends on his knee and fades away slowly. This and the presence of the doppelgänger have been interpreted as contemporary references to the

Paul is dead "Paul is dead" is an urban legend and conspiracy theory alleging that English musician Paul McCartney of the Beatles died on 9 November 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike. The rumour began circulating in 1967, gaining broad popular ...

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

Personnel

Personnel per Andrew Grant Jackson *

- electric guitar w/ tone pedal Vox AC30, bass, harpsichord, flugelhorn, acoustic guitar, clavioline

Track listings

;UK 7" (723 0621) # "Ever Present Past" - 2:59 # "House of Wax" (Live) - 5:18 #* Recorded at

Amoeba Music Amoeba Music is an American independent music store chain with locations in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1990 in Berkeley, California, and remains in operation, having survived the decline o ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, 27 June 2007 ;UK CD (723 0620) # "Ever Present Past" - 2:59 # "

Only Mama Knows Only may refer to: Music Albums * ''Only'' (album), by Tommy Emmanuel, 2000 * ''The Only'', an EP by Dua Lipa, 2017 Songs * "Only" (Anthrax song), 1993 * "Only" (Nine Inch Nails song), 2005 * "Only" (Nicki Minaj song), 2014 * "The Only", by ...

" (Live) - 3:49 #* Recorded at Amoeba Music Los Angeles, 27 June 2007 # "

Dance Tonight "Dance Tonight" is a song by Paul McCartney, the opening track to his 2007 album ''Memory Almost Full''. The song was released as a download single in the United Kingdom on 18 June 2007, McCartney's 65th birthday. A week later, the song debuted ...

" (Live) - 3:15 #* Recorded at Amoeba Music Los Angeles, 27 June 2007 ;iTunes download # "Ever Present Past" - 2:57 # "Only Mama Knows" (Live) - 3:45 #* Recorded at Amoeba Music Los Angeles, 27 June 2007 # "That Was Me" (Live) - 3:05 #* Recorded at Amoeba Music Los Angeles, 27 June 2007

Chart performance

"Ever Present Past" debuted the week ending 6 June 2007 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

's''

Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

chart at #10 and the Pop 100 chart at #93.References for chart positions: * A week later as ''Memory Almost Full'' debuted at #3 in the ''Billboard'' 200, the song debuted at #27 on ''Billboard's''

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart, mirroring the placement of McCartney's 2006 single " This Never Happened Before", ultimately reaching #16 on that chart. The video (currently posted on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

) has received over a million views. The song also reached #42 in Japan, #1 in Russia, #29 in Scotland, #48 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart, #16 on the US Adult Alternative Songs chart and #25 on the UK Physical Singles Chart.

Notes

External links

*
New Paul McCartney single to air on Friday
at The Rock Radio. {{authority control Paul McCartney songs 2007 singles Songs written by Paul McCartney 2007 songs Song recordings produced by David Kahne