Beatles songs, Michelle

PAUL 1977: ''Michelle' was like a joke French tune for when you go to a party or something.
That's all it was.
And then after a while you say, 'Well, that's quite a good tune.
Let's put some real words to it.''

JOHN 1980: 'He and I were staying somewhere and he walked in and hummed the first few bars, with the words, and he says, 'Where do I go from here?' I had been listening to (blues singer) Nina Simone.
I think it was 'I Put A Spell On You.' There was a line in it that went, 'I love you, I love you.' That's what made me think of the middle-eight for 'Michelle.' So, my contributions to Paul's songs was always to add a little bluesy edge to them.
Otherwise, 'Michelle' is a straight ballad, right? He provided a lightness, an optimism, while I would always go for the sadness, the discords, the bluesy notes.'

PAUL 1988: 'I'll never forget putting the bass line in 'Michelle' because it was a kind of Bizet thing.
It really turned the song around.
You could do that with bass.
It was very exciting.'