File:Distractions - Paul McCartney

The oblique "Distractions" was a song that greatly benefited from additional hearings of the track, a characteristic shared by few other tunes on "Flowers in the Dirt." The basic track was recorded at the Mill during the summer of 1988. A potent string arrangement by Clare Fischer was taped later in the year in Los Feliz, California at Chick Corea's Mad Hatter Studios in a 2-5pm session on November 1, 1988. The orchestra consisted consisted of fourteen violins, four violas, two cellos, and an acoustic bass. Also recorded during this session was an arrangement written by Fischer for the Macca/Costello tune "The Lovers That Never Were," but this take went unissued. At one point, "Distractions" was considered as the third single to be pulled from the LP with a tentative release date of September 25, 1989. Instead, "Figure of Eight" took its place. An alternate mix appears here as the soundtrack to the video included in the "Put it There" documentary. The studio clips featuring Paul, Chris, and Hamish appear staged for the videos purpose, and were possibly shot at the same time as the "Put it There" special.