Ever Present Past song & video
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I often listen to Ever Present Past; still love this song after many years. love the lyrics and melody; it's so damn catchy!
Just re-watched the video, yeah, still love the video too, as much as I did when it first came out. it's just so clever 
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I think that's what I like about Paul's music (and why he's been so popular for so long), its so varied and appeals to so many people for so many reasons. To me, Ever Present Past is absolutely dire, almost beyond dreadful. It has no soul, no heart.no energy, nothing but a clinical bland backing that sounds like its been cranked out by a computer. And as for the video, what can I say but that's the worse impression of Cliff Richard I've ever seen.
But lots of fans love EPP so there you go, its a good job we don't all like the same thing. -
Kestrel:
I think that's what I like about Paul's music (and why he's been so popular for so long), its so varied and appeals to so many people for so many reasons. To me, Ever Present Past is absolutely dire, almost beyond dreadful. It has no soul, no heart.no energy, nothing but a clinical bland backing that sounds like its been cranked out by a computer. And as for the video, what can I say but that's the worse impression of Cliff Richard I've ever seen.
But lots of fans love EPP so there you go, its a good job we don't all like the same thing. Ha! Not my favorite song either. Was hard to get excited when this and Dance Tonight were heralded as the two new offerings all the way back then. So many better songs on the album.... it's an old theme, but we all wonder who makes these decisions on the songs/clips that introduce new offerings. Ever Present Past is fine enough as just an album song, tucked away from the gems, but nowhere near strong enough to be considered in the top 100 (at the least) of his career. In my opinion.
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toris:
Kestrel:
I think that's what I like about Paul's music (and why he's been so popular for so long), its so varied and appeals to so many people for so many reasons. To me, Ever Present Past is absolutely dire, almost beyond dreadful. It has no soul, no heart.no energy, nothing but a clinical bland backing that sounds like its been cranked out by a computer. And as for the video, what can I say but that's the worse impression of Cliff Richard I've ever seen.
But lots of fans love EPP so there you go, its a good job we don't all like the same thing. Ha! Not my favorite song either. Was hard to get excited when this and Dance Tonight were heralded as the two new offerings all the way back then. So many better songs on the album.... it's an old theme, but we all wonder who makes these decisions on the songs/clips that introduce new offerings. Ever Present Past is fine enough as just an album song, tucked away from the gems, but nowhere near strong enough to be considered in the top 100 (at the least) of his career. In my opinion.
_________________________________________________ I agree with Kestrel that Paul's music is so damn varied that you get many opinions on individual songs. It is one thing that makes Paul great. He doesn't get into the trap of many other artists where the songs start to sound quite similar. I am on the other side on Ever Present Past. I love the song. First of all the melody is so cheerful with a great hook. I also like the lyrics and it is a song that I wish he would add to the setlist because his current voice could easily handle it. While Dance Tonight was also another catchy, cheerful song from Memory Almost Full, it is too simple for my taste. I just liked Ever Present Past a whole lot better. The lyrics were certainly deeper and I never got tired of the melody. I kind of think of Dance Tonight like Toris thinks of Ever Present Past. A decent album track but not anywhere close to the best songs on the album. I totally agree with Toris that Memory Almost Full has a bunch of great songs. I just put Ever Present Past right up with the other great tracks on the album. Getting back to what Kestrel about varied opinions, I still think that Gratitude and Nod Your Head ruined Memory Almost Full. Take them off and add a couple of the really good B-sides that came out around the same time and you might have the best Solo Macca album of his career. Then again, I'm sure there are some fans that love those 2 tracks that really proves Kestrel's point. What I liked about the Video to Ever Present Past is Paul self deprecating humor. He knows he is not a dancer and that was the whole point. His dancing and the girls imitating his moves made me laugh. ________________________________________________________
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I like reading the different opinions on the song/video! thanks Tori and Kestrel
I agree with B J Conlee, I liked EPP much more than Dance Tonight as a Single choice and song; Dance Tonight is far too simple (though I think that was the idea since he wrote it as a sing-along song for his daughter, i think). But I don't think it should've been a Single. I do like the video for Dance Tonight, another clever one. 
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I like this song a lot! And of course, he never played it live.
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This is cool, Paul showing how he played and recorded the bass for this song!
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Wow, I actually didn't know there were people who hated Ever Present Past. It's catchy and fun but also thoughtful and just a tad poignant. Not absolute top-tier Paul, but close.
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I like the song (and everything from the album) and I enjoy the video. I also find it quite funny.
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It's a good little pop song
I saw where a woman posted one time she was disgusted with the girl dancers, she was jelly, but she needn't have been as I read they were inserted into the video later! So Paul was actually dancing around there, by himself :lol : EPP fits in with the album's theme. I just saw his video for "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" again, he featured lots of dancers in that dancing a jig, all kinds of people and it was a lot of fun. Real jaunty and perky. Awesomely lively. Then I saw the "Ballroom Dancing" vid which also of course showed a lot of dancers, their dancing turned into a fight and I thought of the (kind of exciting in a way) passages in various Beatle books where the Fabs performed in Liddypool and had to see some big horrible bloody fights bust out...I wondered if Paul harked back to those remembering, when he thought up his Ballroom Dancing video. In which the brawling was a lot more genteel. I wished the Fabs had not had to see all that. But then, they must have been a bit used to it Lennon said he ran around the corner when he saw that coming, even though he tried to appear tough. "Dance Tonight" is simplistic, but I like it for its British Isles jig sound with the home folks breaking into a jig sort of like River Dance, and having a grand old time and the children all loving it. It's kind of a child's songs, like they like. As noted, Beatrice loved it. It's really a great tune, cheers you right up, gets the blood coursing in an innocent fun wholesome way, makes you want to square dance and dance a jig and all that, kick up your heels and wiggle around and gyrate. "Don't vegetate! Gyrate! Gyrate!" I remember an all girl pop band in Chapel Hill singing that. They were funny. -
SusyLuvsPaul:
It's a good little pop song
I saw where a woman posted one time she was disgusted with the girl dancers, she was jelly, but she needn't have been as I read they were inserted into the video later! So Paul was actually dancing around there, by himself :lol : I just saw his video for "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" again, he featured lots of dancers in that dancing a jig, all kinds of people and it was a lot of fun. Real jaunty and perky. Awesomely lively. Then I saw the "Ballroom Dancing" vid which also of course showed a lot of dancers, their dancing turned into a fight and I thought of the (kind of exciting in a way) passages in various Beatle books where the Fabs performed in Liddypool and had to see some big horrible bloody fights bust out...I wondered if Paul harked back to those remembering, when he thought up his Ballroom Dancing video. In which the brawling was a lot more genteel. I wished the Fabs had not had to see all that. But then, they must have been a bit used to it Lennon said he ran around the corner when he saw that coming, even though he tried to appear tough. "Dance Tonight" is simplistic, but I like it for its British Isles jig sound with the home folks breaking into a jig sort of like River Dance, and having a grand old time and the children all loving it. It's kind of a child's songs, like they like. As noted, Beatrice loved it. It's really a great tune, cheers you right up, gets the blood coursing in an innocent fun wholesome way, makes you want to square dance and dance a jig and all that, kick up your heels and wiggle around and gyrate. "Don't vegetate! Gyrate! Gyrate!" I recall an all girl pop band in Chapel Hill singing that. They were funny.________________________________________________ Susy, I really liked the EPP video. It was different in that the girls weren't trying to be sexy but trying to imitate the way Paul danced. It was subtle but very funny in my opinion.
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B J Conlee:
SusyLuvsPaul:
It's a good little pop song
I saw where a woman posted one time she was disgusted with the girl dancers, she was jelly, but she needn't have been as I read they were inserted into the video later! So Paul was actually dancing around there, by himself :lol : I just saw his video for "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" again, he featured lots of dancers in that dancing a jig, all kinds of people and it was a lot of fun. Real jaunty and perky. Awesomely lively. Then I saw the "Ballroom Dancing" vid which also of course showed a lot of dancers, their dancing turned into a fight and I thought of the (kind of exciting in a way) passages in various Beatle books where the Fabs performed in Liddypool and had to see some big horrible bloody fights bust out...I wondered if Paul harked back to those remembering, when he thought up his Ballroom Dancing video. In which the brawling was a lot more genteel. I wished the Fabs had not had to see all that. But then, they must have been a bit used to it Lennon said he ran around the corner when he saw that coming, even though he tried to appear tough. "Dance Tonight" is simplistic, but I like it for its British Isles jig sound with the home folks breaking into a jig sort of like River Dance, and having a grand old time and the children all loving it. It's kind of a child's songs, like they like. As noted, Beatrice loved it. It's really a great tune, cheers you right up, gets the blood coursing in an innocent fun wholesome way, makes you want to square dance and dance a jig and all that, kick up your heels and wiggle around and gyrate. "Don't vegetate! Gyrate! Gyrate!" I recall an all girl pop band in Chapel Hill singing that. They were funny.________________________________________________ Susy, I really liked the EPP video. It was different in that the girls weren't trying to be sexy but trying to imitate the way Paul danced. It was subtle but very funny in my opinion.
I guess you missed the fact that they wore nothing under their jackets!
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I did miss that fact (laughs). Wasn't it all the same girl, dancing in that? Just one girl ? Had sort of a strange hair style. I vividly recall I bought this cd MAF in a K-Mart at the beach, Myrtle Beach, in the 1990's. That was right long ago, wasn't it. I remember driving around listening to this through headphones on a Sony Walkman (I still use those! LOL). You're not supposed to drive wearing headphones, glad I wasn't pulled by the heat. I won't do it anymore, promise! I remember thinking it was cool that Paul was a mature grown man and not afraid to put out a pure pop album. He was very much in touch with his inner youth and still young (and still is). It's striking how different MAF is from "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard." I thought the song Ever Present Past WAS done in concert once, at the Olympia in Paris? I thought audi showed that video before? Unless I'm misremembering. Out to lunch. LOL -
Nancy R:
B J Conlee:
SusyLuvsPaul:
It's a good little pop song
I saw where a woman posted one time she was disgusted with the girl dancers, she was jelly, but she needn't have been as I read they were inserted into the video later! So Paul was actually dancing around there, by himself :lol : I just saw his video for "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" again, he featured lots of dancers in that dancing a jig, all kinds of people and it was a lot of fun. Real jaunty and perky. Awesomely lively. Then I saw the "Ballroom Dancing" vid which also of course showed a lot of dancers, their dancing turned into a fight and I thought of the (kind of exciting in a way) passages in various Beatle books where the Fabs performed in Liddypool and had to see some big horrible bloody fights bust out...I wondered if Paul harked back to those remembering, when he thought up his Ballroom Dancing video. In which the brawling was a lot more genteel. I wished the Fabs had not had to see all that. But then, they must have been a bit used to it Lennon said he ran around the corner when he saw that coming, even though he tried to appear tough. "Dance Tonight" is simplistic, but I like it for its British Isles jig sound with the home folks breaking into a jig sort of like River Dance, and having a grand old time and the children all loving it. It's kind of a child's songs, like they like. As noted, Beatrice loved it. It's really a great tune, cheers you right up, gets the blood coursing in an innocent fun wholesome way, makes you want to square dance and dance a jig and all that, kick up your heels and wiggle around and gyrate. "Don't vegetate! Gyrate! Gyrate!" I recall an all girl pop band in Chapel Hill singing that. They were funny.________________________________________________ Susy, I really liked the EPP video. It was different in that the girls weren't trying to be sexy but trying to imitate the way Paul danced. It was subtle but very funny in my opinion.
I guess you missed the fact that they wore nothing under their jackets!
______________________________________________________ Nancy, Maybe I need to watch that video again!!
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SusyLuvsPaul:
I did miss that fact (laughs). Wasn't it all the same girl, dancing in that? Just one girl ? Had sort of a strange hair style. I vividly recall I bought this cd MAF in a K-Mart at the beach, Myrtle Beach, in the 1990's. That was right long ago, wasn't it. I remember driving around listening to this through headphones on a Sony Walkman (I still use those! LOL). You're not supposed to drive wearing headphones, glad I wasn't pulled by the heat. I won't do it anymore, promise! I remember thinking it was cool that Paul was a mature grown man and not afraid to put out a pure pop album. He was very much in touch with his inner youth and still young (and still is). It's striking how different MAF is from "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard." I thought the song Ever Present Past WAS done in concert once, at the Olympia in Paris? I thought audi showed that video before? Unless I'm misremembering. Out to lunch. LOL_______________________________________________________ Susy The Olympia Concert in Paris is one of my favorite concerts to watch on U-Tube. I wished Paul's company would release it so we can get a top quality DVD for our collections. I remember that the venue seemed relatively small so that the audience seemed so close to the Band, Paul's voice that night was fantastic and his interaction with the audience was electric. Macca was hitting all the notes with ease. His performance of Band on the Run was the best I have ever seen on that song after he and the Band had a misfire and had to start again. Another aspect that I loved about this particular show was that Paul performed 2 Memory Almost Full songs that I had never heard live before. They were: House of Wax That Was Me It was the only time I recall Paul singing the above songs and they sounded great live. Don't know why he stopped playing them. Paul and the Band did not perform Ever Present Past that night and as far as I know, they have never played EPP at any concert. As I said in the beginning of this post, EPP is a song I would love Macca to play now or in the future. At Olympia, He also performed Dance tonight and Only Mama from Memory Almost Full although he played both songs over a few tours from what I remember.
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SusyLuvsPaul:
I did miss that fact (laughs). Wasn't it all the same girl, dancing in that? Just one girl ? Had sort of a strange hair style.It was different girls made to look alike. One was black.
