Once Upon a Long Ago


"Once Upon a Long Ago" is a song by English musician Paul McCartney, released as his fortieth single on 16 November 1987, from his compilation All the Best!, released two weeks before the single. The track was produced by Phil Ramone and mixed by George Martin, and features violin by Nigel Kennedy.
The song was originally composed for the film The Princess Bride.

Recording

Originally it was intended that this song would be a duet between McCartney and Freddie Mercury. The two had known each other only casually, as Mercury was a fan of Buddy Holly and would occasionally attend McCartney's Holly-inspired events over the years. However, they became proper friends following socializing that took place after Live Aid. McCartney, who had sympathy for Mercury due to the press stalking him for stories about his health, wrote the song with Mercury in mind. Mercury, however, was inundated with work, both solo and with Queen, and McCartney continued the project without him. McCartney's pitch, phrasing and key on the finished track are all very similar to the guide vocal demo he created for Mercury when he was attached to the project. Linda McCartney revealed that Paul was devastated by Mercury's death when she appeared alone on British TV a few days after Mercury died. The track was recorded at Hog Hill Studio on March 11 and 12, 1987 with overdubs added at Abbey Road in July. During this session, a full orchestra was overdubbed, as well as instrumental contributions by Stan Sulzmann, Nigel Kennedy, and Adrian Brett.

Release and charts

The song was released in four versions: two different 12" singles feature "long" and "extended" versions ; the 7" single and the CD single feature an edit of the long version and a B-side from each of the two 12" singles, as well as "Back on My Feet", a b-side for all four iterations; and the album version featured on All the Best! contains an alternative ending. "Back on My Feet" was also the first released song from the songwriting collaboration between McCartney and Elvis Costello. Both 12" and CD singles also featured songs from McCartney's yet to be released cover album, Choba B CCCP.
"Once Upon a Long Ago" reached No. 10 in the United Kingdom Singles Chart,. The single was not released in the United States nor included on the US version of All the Best!, although it did appear on the longer UK/Canada version. The song has not been included on any major US-released album but did appear on the promotional album Never Stop Doing What You Love.
Chart Peak
position

Track listings

;7" single
  1. "Once Upon a Long Ago" – 4:12
  2. "Back on My Feet" – 4:20
;12" single, version one
  1. "Once Upon a Long Ago" – 4:34
  2. "Back on My Feet" – 4:21
  3. "Midnight Special" – 3:56
  4. "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" – 2:51
;12" single, version two
  1. "Once Upon a Long Ago" – 6:06
  2. "Back on My Feet" – 4:21
  3. "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" – 3:15
  4. "Kansas City" – 4:00
;CD single
  1. "Once Upon a Long Ago" – 4:12
  2. "Back on My Feet" – 4:21
  3. "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" – 2:51
  4. "Kansas City" – 4:00

    ''Once Upon a Video''

Along with the single and the All the Best! album there was also released an 18-minute VHS for sale called Once Upon a Video, consisting of four music videos:
  1. "Once Upon a Long Ago" – the video was shot in the Valley of Rocks, North Devon.
  2. "Stranglehold"
  3. "Pretty Little Head"
  4. "We All Stand Together" – the music video was an edit of the songpart from the movie Rupert and the Frog Song
"We All Stand Together" was included on the UK/Canada-release of All the Best! along with "Once Upon a Long Ago".

Personnel