Paul McCartney & Beck – “Find My Way”: Reinvention Across Generations
When Paul McCartney unveiled “Find My Way” on his 2020 album McCartney III, it was already clear that the song carried a spark of his classic songwriting spirit: playful, melodic, and restless in its search for connection. But in 2021, the track found a second life when McCartney invited Beck to reimagine it for McCartney III Imagined, a collaborative project where artists from across genres took turns reshaping the songs from the original album. Beck’s version of “Find My Way” was not just a remix — it was a meeting of two generations of pop innovators, blending McCartney’s melodic sensibility with Beck’s experimental, groove-driven style.
The year 2021 was significant for McCartney. At 79, he had just released McCartney III, an album recorded in solitude during the COVID-19 lockdown, and it was hailed as a testament to his enduring creativity. By handing the material over to contemporary artists for Imagined, he showed not only humility but also a desire to keep his music alive in new contexts. Beck, long celebrated for his ability to fuse genres and reinvent sound, was a natural choice to reinterpret one of the album’s most upbeat tracks.
Musically, Beck’s version transforms the original. Where McCartney’s take leaned on guitar riffs, piano, and a propulsive rock rhythm, Beck infused it with funk-inspired basslines, shimmering synths, and a danceable groove. The track takes on an almost psychedelic disco flavor, drawing inspiration from both 1970s soul and 21st-century electronic textures. McCartney’s vocals — light, playful, and tinged with falsetto — float above the arrangement, while Beck’s production stretches and reshapes them, adding echoes and effects that give the song a kaleidoscopic energy.
The lyrics retain their core message of optimism and resilience: “You never used to be afraid of days like these, but now you’re overwhelmed by your anxieties.” At its heart, the song is about navigating uncertainty, about pushing through fear and doubt in search of direction. McCartney delivers these lines with the ease of someone who has lived through decades of change and challenge. Beck’s reimagining amplifies that theme by embedding the words in a soundscape that feels both retro and futuristic, suggesting that the struggle to “find our way” is timeless.
Critically, Beck’s version of “Find My Way” was one of the most celebrated tracks on McCartney III Imagined. Reviewers praised its ability to honor the spirit of the original while giving it an entirely new identity. For many listeners, it was also a revelation to hear McCartney’s voice in such a modern, groove-laden context — proof that his songwriting could still adapt seamlessly to contemporary sounds.
The accompanying music video only added to the song’s impact. Featuring a digitally de-aged McCartney strutting through neon-lit corridors before gradually transforming into Beck, it became a viral moment that underscored the track’s themes of reinvention and continuity. It was playful, surreal, and slightly uncanny — much like the song itself.
In the broader arc of McCartney’s career, “Find My Way” and its collaboration with Beck highlight his openness to evolution. Unlike many artists of his era who prefer to remain in the past, McCartney has consistently sought new partners and new sounds. From working with Kanye West and Rihanna on “FourFiveSeconds” to inviting Beck to reimagine his work, he has shown that he sees music not as a legacy to be preserved but as a living art form that thrives on reinvention.
Today, “Find My Way” stands as a symbol of McCartney’s refusal to be defined by age or nostalgia. It is a song of resilience, reimagined as a dance-floor groove, a bridge between the 1960s and the 2020s, between analog warmth and digital experimentation.
In the story of Paul McCartney, the Beck collaboration is more than just a remix. It is a statement: that the journey of “finding one’s way” never ends, and that music, when shared across generations, can continue to illuminate the path forward.