Rockblog

Sir Paul McCartney has confirmed the existence of a lost 14-minute Beatles song that he wants released.

McCartney told the BBC the track - called Carnival of Light - was not released because the other Beatles thought it was too “adventurous”.

Carnival of Light was recorded by McCartney and the Beatles for an electronic music festival in 1967. The song’s only public airing was at the festival .

McCartney said: “I said all I want you to do is just wander around all the stuff, bang it, shout, play it, it doesn’t need to make any sense. Hit a drum then wander on to the piano, hit a few notes, just wander around.

“So that’s what we did and then put a bit of an echo on it. It’s very free.”

Paul wanted to release the song as part of the Beatles’ Anthology collections in the mid 90s, but the decision was vetoed by the rest of the band.

I’m not sure if the world needs 14 minutes worth of the Beatles dicking around in the studio with no structure. The thing that made the band great is the songwriting, so completely freeform messing about seems pointless.

Still, being an unreleased Beatles tune, Carnival of Light would quite possibly hit the Top 10 if released as a single. If it did, it would be the longest single to ever make the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The record holder for longest single to break the Top 10 is currently November Rain by Guns ‘N’ Roses.