Take It Away (Paul McCartney song)

"Take It Away" is a single by the English musician Paul McCartney from his third solo studio album Tug of War (1982). The single spent sixteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, reaching #10 and spending five consecutive weeks at that position. It reached #15 in the UK. The music video, directed by John Mackenzie, features former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and long-time producer George Martin, both of whom played on the track, as well as actor John Hurt and Linda McCartney.

Although there is a segue from "Tug of War" into this song on the album, the single version instead starts cleanly but fades out earlier at the end.

Track listings
7" single
 * 1) "Take It Away" – 3:59
 * 2) "I'll Give You a Ring" – 3:05

12" single (black vinyl everywhere else; clear yellow vinyl in Japan)
 * 1) "Take It Away" – 3:59
 * 2) "I'll Give You a Ring" – 3:05
 * 3) "Dress Me Up as a Robber" – 2:40

Personnel
"Take It Away"
 * Paul McCartney – lead and backing vocals, bass, acoustic guitar, piano
 * Linda McCartney – backing vocals
 * Eric Stewart – electric guitar, backing vocals
 * Ringo Starr – drums
 * Steve Gadd – drums
 * George Martin – electric piano

"I'll Give You a Ring" "Dress Me Up As A Robber"
 * Paul McCartney – vocals, electric guitar, bass, piano, drums
 * Tony Coe – clarinet
 * Linda McCartney – backing vocals
 * Eric Stewart – backing vocals


 * Paul McCartney – vocals, bass, guitars
 * Linda McCartney – backing vocals
 * Denny Laine – electric guitar, synthesizer
 * George Martin – electric piano
 * Dave Mattacks – drums, percussion

Critical reception
Billboard called it "a superior single that fuses a driving rhythm with a sleek, polished production" and said it was McCartney's "most assured, seamless, irresistible" single since the mid-1970s. Cash Box said that it's a "dense, multi-layered pop confection" that "keeps the listener on his/her toes throughout the song, going from a lazy tropical-type rhythm to a galloping brass section." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso rated it as the best song on Tug of War, stating that it starts "with an off-kilter rhythm courtesy of Ringo Starr and all of the tasteful hallmarks of a George Martin production" and becomes "one of McCartney's patented pop confections, featuring a feverish horn counterpoint, deceptively intricate bass, and an utterly indecipherable narrative." DeRiso also praised Eric Stewart's backing vocals.