Too Many People (4:10)

“Too Many People” is a song by Paul (and Linda) McCartney from his 1971 album Ram as well as the B-side of the “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” single.

The song is one of several instances of “musical sniping” among the four Beatles after the band broke up, the target in this case presumed to be McCartney’s former bandmate and songwriting partner John Lennon. ” been doing a lot of preaching, and it got up my nose a little bit,” said McCartney in a 1984 interview with Playboy. “I wrote, ‘Too many people preaching practices,’ I think is the line. I mean, that was a little dig at John and Yoko…there was ‘You took your lucky break and broke it in two.’”

Other songs in this mold include McCartney’s “3 Legs”, George Harrison’s “Wah-Wah”, and Lennon’s “How Do You Sleep?”, the latter being an explicit response to “Too Many People.”

McCartney sings falsetto during part of the bridges. Hugh McCracken’s guitar solo between the second bridge and third chorus is played in one piece. The second solo after the final bridge is accompanied by a drum stick on the side of a floor tom.