Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney: The Songs They Recorded Together

Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney recorded three original songs together: The Girl Is Mine, Say Say Say and The Man. McCartney's official 2015 remix announcement describes Say Say Say as one of three tracks on which they worked together. The originals span Jackson's Thriller and McCartney's Pipes of Peace rather than belonging to a single joint album.

The songwriting pattern is not identical across the three. The Girl Is Mine is credited to Jackson, while McCartney's official Pipes of Peace credits name McCartney and Jackson together for Say Say Say and The Man. Sharing a microphone does not necessarily mean sharing the composition credit, even within the same partnership.

The Girl Is Mine was released as a single in October 1982 and appears on Thriller. The song reference identifies Jackson as its writer and Jackson and Quincy Jones as its producers. It is therefore a joint vocal recording of a Jackson composition, rather than a McCartney/Jackson co-write.

As interpretation, the recording presents the two voices as characters in a conversational disagreement. That format makes their individual identities part of the song's design: the exchange depends on hearing two distinct participants rather than an anonymous doubled lead. Its place in this list rests on the shared performance, not on assuming both men wrote every song they sang together.

McCartney's official single page dates Say Say Say to October 3, 1983. It also states that the track was actually recorded a year before The Girl Is Mine, during work connected with Tug of War. This is the important chronological correction: the first duet the public received was not necessarily the first one the pair recorded.

In his official recollection, McCartney says the collaboration began with a telephone call around Christmas 1980 and that Say Say Say grew from an idea he had started. He recalls the two completing it together and recording at AIR Studios with George Martin producing. These details should be presented as McCartney's memory of the process, while the official album credits establish the shared authorship.

The Man appears as track six on Pipes of Peace, whose official release date is October 31, 1983. The album page describes it as another Jackson collaboration and credits tracks two and six, Say Say Say and The Man, to McCartney/Jackson. It is essential to the answer even when a singles-focused account gives most of its attention to the other two records.

McCartney's 2015 Say Say Say announcement describes a remix featuring previously unheard vocals and swapped vocal positions. That is a later presentation of an existing song, not a fourth original composition by the pair. The most useful compact discography therefore separates three original joint recordings from subsequent remixes and alternate versions. It also preserves two timelines: release order for what listeners encountered, and recording history for how the collaboration developed.