"Ebony and Ivory" is a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney, performed with Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 29 of that year. The song is featured on McCartney's album Tug of War as well as several of Wonder's Greatest Hits albums. The song reached number one on both the UK and the US charts in 1982.
At the simplest level, the song is about the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano, but also deals with integration and racial ...
more
"Ebony and Ivory" is a 1982 number-one single by Paul McCartney, performed with Stevie Wonder. It was released on March 29 of that year. The song is featured on McCartney's album Tug of War as well as several of Wonder's Greatest Hits albums. The song reached number one on both the UK and the US charts in 1982.
At the simplest level, the song is about the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano, but also deals with integration and racial harmony on a deeper level. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony folks!". The figure is much older. It was popularized by James Aggrey in the 1920s, inspiring the title of the pan-African journal The Keys, but was in use from at least the 1840s.
Although written by McCartney alone, the song was performed live in the studio by both McCartney and Wonder, though due to conflicting work schedules, both recorded their parts for the song's music video...
less
