Paul McCartney is probably going to sing "Hey Jude" at the London Olympics' opening ceremonies tonight. Just call it a hunch, or else just Google all the reports from trusted anonymous sources that he's been practicing the song at what I believe is officially called Not-The-Bird's-Nest-But-That's-Okay-Really Stadium. That's fine; "Hey Jude" is incredible, and it will work especially well as a big singalong to rouse the audience from its spectacle-induced stupor.
But I'm more interested in the journey than the destination -- at one point the man had 200 Beatles songs, along with the entirety of Back to the Egg, to rule out for this internationally televised performance. Here, then, are five songs Paul McCartney probably eliminated first -- five he absolutely should not perform at the 2012 Olympics' opening ceremonies. I've left out "North Koreans Are Basically Just South Koreans, Anyway," off his new record, for obvious reasons.
5. Revolution. Olympic Types have always been a little odd to me--they're ostensibly progressive and idealistic, they uphold amateurism and hard work and dedication and all of that, but their dream, their absolute dream scenario, is that a bunch of countries that look about like they do now get together and play sports in some other country.
Which may have been revolutionary in 1904, when St. Louis hosted the Olympics, but is somewhat less likely to sell the anger in this John Lennon standard. The Chairman Mao reference would be a great way to get the first post-Bird's-Nest Opening Ceremonies banned in China, though.
4. Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand
Maybe not this year. But I do like the idea of Paul McCartney appearing at every Olympic Games from now on as a kind of trolling ambassador, only to end up singing "I Want To Hold Your Hand" in German every time. Maybe in Paris, down the road, he could play the first few bars of "Michelle" and then launch into the "Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand" riff anyway.
