Picasso's Last Words
(Paul McCartney 1973) 1.47
Performed by Chris Murray
"THE GRAND OLD PAINTER DIED LAST NIGHT, HIS PAINTINGS ON THE WALL, BEFORE HE LEFT, HE HAD A SWELL AND SAID GOODNIGHT TO US ALL"
This is a fitting song as the coda of the album. The 2nd song on this album from Band on The Run. I asked Chris to sing this as it holds a special place in my heart. This song always reminds me of those dear friends who have pasted. "On one of our Jamaican holidays we had heard that Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen were around, shooting the film Papillon. We were invited to visit the set and Dustin asked us back to his house for dinner. He was asking me how I Nitrite songs; I explained that I just make them up. He said, Can you make up a song about anything?' I wasn't sure, but he pulled out a copy of Time, pointed to an article and said, 'Could you write a song about this? It was a quote from Picasso, from the last night of his life. Apparently, he had said to his friends, 'Drink to me, drink to my health, you know I can't drink anymore,' and then gone to bed and died in his sleep. So I picked up a guitar, started to strum and sing 'Drink to me, drink to my health...', and Dustin was shouting to his wife, 'He's doing it! He's doing it! Come and listen!' It's something that comes naturally to me but he was blown away by it. And that song became 'Picasso's Last Words'." — Paul McCartney