New song from Paul McCartney

Ethel & Ernest soundtrack album.

A new McCartney song will be out on 28 October as a download and 11 November as a physical product – from Decca Records! The song was written for the upcoming animated motion picture, “Ethel & Ernest”.

This hand drawn 94 minutes long animated film, based on the award winning graphic novel by Raymond Briggs, is an intimate and affectionate depiction of the life and times of his parents, two ordinary Londoners living through extraordinary events, from their chance first encounter in the 1920s until their deaths in the 1970s.

Ethel and Ernest were solid members of the English working class, part of the generation that lived through the most tumultuous years of the twentieth century. They met during the Depression–she working as a maid, he as a milkman–and we follow them as they court and marry, make a home, raise their son, and cope with the dark days of World War II. Briggs portrays how his parents succeeded, or failed, in coming to terms with the events of their rapidly shifting world: the advent of radio, television and telephones; the development of the atomic bomb; the moon landing and the social and political turmoil of the sixties.

The soundtrack features an original score by composer and conductor Carl Davis CBE and an exclusive new song by Sir Paul McCartney. McCartney’s new song, titled “In the Blink of An Eye”, plays over the end credits of the movie.

Paul’s song features strings arranged by Carl Davis and an orchestra arrangement by Chris Egan.

“I knew that Paul McCartney was a big animation fan and I knew that Raymond Briggs’ book Fungus the Bogeyman had influenced Paul’s 1980s track Bogey Music,” director Roger Mainwood told British newspaper The Telegraph. “So I asked Raymond if he might write a letter to Paul to see if he was interested in composing a track for Ethel and Ernest, which he did on Fungus the Bogeyman headed paper!”

“It obviously worked and we were thrilled when Paul said he was interested,” he continued.  “We met up and he produced a CD which included a track called Mum and Dad theme.  This eventually became In the Blink of An Eye which we have used in the film.”

Back in the 1920s Sir Paul McCartney’s father, James McCartney, wrote a tune called “Walking in the Park with Eloise“ when he was leader of the Jim Mac’s Jazz band, a version of which was recorded by Paul McCartney with Floyd Cramer and Chet Atkins as “The Country Hams” in 1974. This tune has been re-arranged specially for the film by Carl Davis (Paul McCartney’s collaborator on his first classical outing, “Liverpool Oratorio”) and performed by the Chamber Orchestra of London. “Walking in the Park with Eloise” is heard during a sequence early on in the film, set outside a ballroom. Paul’s composition “In The Blink Of An Eye” plays over the first part of the end credits before leading into a reprise of “Walking in the Park with Eloise”.

The Country Hams: Walking In The Park With Eloise (1974).

The film also uses original recorded music from the periods depicted in the film. A vast range of popular tunes from four decades are woven into the soundtrack, from Al Bowlly’s 1934 recording of “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” through to The Shadows 1963 hit “Foot Tapper”. In addition, internationally renowned composer and conductor Carl Davis has composed an original score for the production.
The film will be broadcast on the BBC around Christmas (potentially Christmas Day – TBC).

Ethel & Ernest Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Music by Carl Davis.

1. Opening Titles

2. London 1928

3. Ethel and Ernest introduce Themselves

4. Walking in the Park with Eloise (composed by James McCartney)

5. We’re Going To Be Married

6. Now You’re In My Arms

7. What A Little Moonlight Can Do

8. Homemaking Montage

9. Blue Skies Are Around The Corner

10. The Baby

11. Housekeeping

12. Tea for Two

13. Paddington

14. The Deepest Shelter in Town

15. Underneath The Spreading Chestnut Tree

16. We’ll Meet Again

17. Blitzkrieg

18. Dorset – A Visit

19. Singing In The Bathtub

20. A Perfect Day

21. Stagecoach Theme

22. Grammar School

23. A Clever Boy

24. The Laughing Policeman

25. An Ordinary Copper

26. The Young Ballerina

27. Sous Le Ciel de Paris

28. Foot Tapper

29. Little Things

30. Reflections of Charlie Brown

31. Tea For Two Reprise

32. She’s Gone

33. Pear Tree

34. In The Blink Of An Eye – Paul McCartney

• The movie soundtrack of Ethel and Ernest will be released on November 11, 2016 by Decca Records.
• The official website of the movie.