What Makes McCartney’s Carpool Karaoke So Irresistible?

Beatle Paul McCartney has been trending on social media for a week and the whole world is talking about him, after his edition of Carpool Karaoke went viral. The 23-minute video has been viewed 17 million times within five days. The Dutch newspaper NRC published a great article with three reasons why the video is so popular. Because it’s in Dutch, I translated some of it. You can read the full, original article here.

1. Paul McCartney

McCartney is a living legend that is yet so approachable, he still has that boyish charm at the age of 76. Again and again McCartney seems to look back on his childhood with pleasure. Every Beatles anecdote he has already told a thousand times, he brings as if it just comes to mind. While McCartney drives Corden in the car, they sing hit after hit together. From 'Penny Lane' to 'Blackbird'. And actually McCartney’s voice isn’t that good. During 'Drive my Car' he just doesn’t get the high note at “asked the girl what she wanted to be”. Paul McCartney can afford to be vulnerable. It makes him even more sympathetic.

2. The city and the people

The whole drive is a big advertisement for Liverpool. Before The Beatles it was a colorless port city. Now Liverpool is a tourist attraction. The Liverpudlians themselves are charming with Beatle tourism. In the video with Corden you can see how ordinary Liverpudlians react to their not so common local: the attendant in the parental home of McCartney is totally surprised (and McCartney, charmer as he is, modestly introduces himself), a fan on the street tells McCartney that his music was played during the funeral of his father, and a hairdresser picks mischievously to the still brown hairs. These are the most beautiful moments of the film.

Carpool Karaoke with Paul McCartney:

3. Carpool Karaoke

Let big pop stars in the car just sing along with the radio - the 'carpool karaoke' of The Late Late Show by James Corden is a very strong idea. Normally you see the stars somewhere on a sofa in a studio, now they are on the same road as ordinary people. What makes the episode with McCartney even more charming, is that this is a Carpool Karaoke Deluxe: he gets out at the places from his youth, and he gives a surprise concert in his old pub. The guests are first stunned and then delirious. Fans rush in as if they were in the movie A Hard Day's Night. And so becomes a TV section, which in the end is simply a vehicle for promoting McCartney’s new album, a moving and irresistible video.

More News:

CarPaul Karaoke Brings Beatles Back In Charts
“Retire From What?” McCartney Back On Tour This Summer
McCartney confirms Beatles' White Album 50th Anniversary Edition

André Homan

André Homan is a Dutch writer and journalist.

Nieuwere post Oudere post