"Hope of Deliverance" is a song by English singer-songwriter

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 ...

, released in December 1992 as the lead single from his ninth solo studio album, ''

Off the Ground ''Off the Ground'' is the ninth solo studio album by Paul McCartney, released on 2 February 1993. As his first studio album of the 1990s, it is also the follow-up to the well received ''Flowers in the Dirt'' (1989). Recording and structure Afte ...

'' (1993). The

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

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song reached number 18 on 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 ...

and became a top-five hit in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland. The song was recorded during sessions for ''Off the Ground'', which took place on 17 July 1992. The overdub session is described in detail by Italian percussionist Maurizio Ravalico in the book ''Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969–2013)''.

Critical reception

Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' remarked that

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 ...

"continues to embrace warm and positive visions on this first glimpse into his upcoming ''

'' collection." He explained, "A soft, acoustic-anchored arrangement clips along at a breezy pace. Spanish cultural influences and handclappin' rhythms gives the track a unique and refreshing vibe that will please programmers at pop, AC, and album-rock levels. Like a visit from a dear old friend." Randy Clark from '' Cashbox'' felt that the single "is certainly not representative of the more brilliant musical work Paul has done over his 30-plus year career, although it's refreshing that he continues to enjoy the process." He added, "The intended inspiration of this track offers no solutions to "...the darkness that surrounds us", but it could be comforting for some to know Mr. Happy McMoneybags can still write a positive little pop song about anything." A reviewer from ''

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Even ...

'' noted the "uplifting pop panache" of the song. '' Irish Independent'' declared it as "simple, efficient Pop". ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St Paul's Square, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is published Monday to Sunday, and is Liver ...

'' stated that it "sees Paul entering 1993 with optimism", adding further, "The single that grows and grows like most McCartney songs. It highlights his, optimistic side and his acoustic gift. It has flashbacks of the hit single " Goodnight Tonight"." James Masterton described it as "a gentle acoustic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

" in his weekly UK chart commentary. Alan Jones from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' wrote, "A jangly guitar intro ushers in a double-tracked Macca on a quirky but ultimately undistinguished and rather corny track, with an insipid middle eight. McCartney last breached the Top 10 in 1987 and this, sadly, isn't the song to end his drought." Parker Puterbaugh from ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' said it is "one of those perfect little tunes McCartney plucks from his songwriter's subconscious like a pearl from a shell. Deceptively wispy, effortlessly catchy, it finds McCartney breezily proffering a positive attitude toward the days ahead".

Chart performance

"Hope of Deliverance" became a hit in McCartney's native UK, reaching number 18. It did not fare well on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number 83, but it did better on the ''Billboard''

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, reaching number nine, and in Canada, where it reached number five. It also did very well in Germany, peaking at number three. Remix versions were released on 15 January 1993, and picked up massive airplay in clubs.

Music video

The official

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for the song was directed by British director

Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. ...

. It received

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Live performances

The song was featured in the set list of 1993's

The New World Tour In 1993, Paul McCartney and his band embarked upon The New World Tour, spanning almost the entire year and almost the entire globe. This tour featured a controversial pre-concert film (starting in the U.S leg of the tour), which was shown before ...

. It was in hiatus until McCartney performed it again in Bogotá, Colombia on 19 April 2012 during his On the Run Tour—the first time performing a song from ''

'' with his 2012 lineup. During the Out There Tour, McCartney performed "Hope of Deliverance" with all musicians in his band playing guitar, including the tour opener in Belo Horizonte.Paul McCartney Plays Unexpected Beatles Songs On World Tour Opener
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Track listings

* 7-inch single # "Hope of Deliverance" – 3:20 # "Long Leather Coat" (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) – 3:33 * CD maxi # "Hope of Deliverance" – 3:20 # "Big Boys Bickering" – 3:19 # "Long Leather Coat" (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) – 3:33 # "Kicked Around No More" – 5:25 * Audio cassette # "Hope of Deliverance" – 3:20 # "Long Leather Coat" (P. McCartney/L. McCartney) – 3:33

Personnel

: bass,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

and

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Linda McCartney: autoharp and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

Hamish Stuart James Hamish Stuart (born 8 October 1949) is a British guitarist, bassist, singer, composer and record producer. He was an original member of the Average White Band. Biography Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Stuart attended Queens Park School in ...

: backing vocals *

Robbie McIntosh Robbie McIntosh (born 25 October 1957) is an English guitarist. McIntosh is well known as a session guitarist and member of The Pretenders from 1982 until 1987. In 1988 he began doing session guitar work for Paul McCartney joining his band fu ...

: guitar *

Blair Cunningham Blair Cunningham (born October 11, 1957, Memphis, Tennessee) is an American drummer who has played for many bands and artists including Denise LaSalle, Robert Johnson, the Detroit Emeralds, Frederick Knight, Echo & the Bunnymen, Haircut One H ...

: backing vocals and

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Paul "Wix" Wickens Paul Wickens (born 27 March 1956) is an English musician, composer, and record producer, professionally known as Wix. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Wickens has worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bon ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, also referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Its high-quality samples, flexibility and affordability made the LinnDrum popular; it sold far m ...

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These ...

, percussion and backing vocals * David Giovannini: percussion * Dave Pattman: percussion * Maurizio Ravalico: percussion

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

* {{Authority control 1992 songs 1993 singles Capitol Records singles Paul McCartney songs Music published by MPL Music Publishing Music videos directed by Andy Morahan Parlophone singles Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Song recordings produced by Julian Mendelsohn Songs written by Paul McCartney