Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney – FourFiveSeconds
I asked auto Alexa to play songs by Paul McCartney, and the song “FourFiveSeconds” blasts from my car’s rear speakers. What song is this, and why is it associated with Beatle Paul with no discernible vocal presence from Mr. Instantly recognizable? After song identification, research conducted, and collaborating artists known, we share this song with Durham Cool readers. A collaboration between Kanye and McC Paul was perhaps inevitable, yet the Gods of music chose the addition of Rihanna.
The story behind “FourFiveSeconds” is a little more straightforward. As McCartney explains it, “A lot of what we did was just telling each other stories,” while he noodled around on an acoustic guitar and they recorded everything on an iPhone. Months later, when McCartney got the record, the Beatle didn’t even recognize his part, because West had taken one of his chord progressions, sped it up, and made it into the basis for a completely new song. There are even some high-pitched, unrecognizable background vocals about 55 seconds into the song that sound like they might come from Rihanna or a small child, but McCartney pointed out, “That’s me.”
I might get a little drunk
I say what’s on my mind
I might do a little time
‘Cause all of my kindness
Is taken for weakness
And we got three more days ’til Friday
I’m just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh, that’s all I want
Sun was shinin’, I’m positive (We can run)
Then I heard you were talkin’ trash (I’m on a mystery)
Hold me back, I’m bout’ to spaz
And we got three more days ’til Friday
I’m tryna make it back home by Monday mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would try me
Ooh, that’s all I want
Thinkin’ how could I be so selfish
But you called ’bout a thousand times
Wondering where I’ve been
Thinkin’ how could I be so reckless
But I just can’t apologize
I hope you can understand, yeah
Promise you’ll pay my bail
See they want to buy my pride
But that just ain’t up for sale
See, all of my kindness, (mhm)
Is taken for weakness
And we got three more days ’til Friday
I’m just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
Ooh, that’s all I want
And we got three more days ’til Friday
Just tryna make it back home by Monday mornin’
I swear I wish somebody would tell me
‘Cause that’s all I want

Rihanna vocal range
According to our database the vocal range of this artist is:
D3 – C#6 (2.9 octaves)
Song with the LOWEST pitch:
Towards the Sun (D3-F#5)
Song with the HIGHEST pitch:
What’s My Name? (A4-C#6)
Rihanna – Stay (Live on SNL) ft. Mikky Ekko