Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

More about Girlfriend...

Michael Jackson's version:

 

I'm Carrying - The first two songs on London Town are disappointing to me. When listening to the album as a whole I sometimes skip the first and nearly always skip the second. But the album redeems itself with the next few tracks. I'm Carrying is a lovely, unassuming, acoustic ballad with a beautifully vulnerable sounding vocal. An overlooked gem.

Backwards Traveler - I wish this were a complete song. It's bouncy and melodic. It sounds like, with a strong bridge, it could have been a highlight. As it is, it's a fun interlude. Too bad, as this album could use a few more strong songs.

Cuff Link - just a ditty. Nothing to really love or hate about it.

 

More about Girlfriend...

Demo:

 

Children Children - I usually like the Denny songs but this one is so wispy that it barely exists. Not a lot to this one.

Girlfriend - I wonder how people would feel about this song if Jackson hadn't rescued it from obscurity - where it belonged. I find the whole thing a bit too cutesy and those "Yeah"s cringe worthy. Can't go there.

 

I liked the song before Jackson recorded it
Still do

 

Wings' "Girlfriend":
Michael Jackson's "Girlfriend":

(What a brilliant move to take out the middle-eight. )

 

Girlfriend: With a slicked up production I could see this being a decent addition to Tug of War or Pipes of Peace.

I hate its inclusion on London Town.

I guess it comes down to whether you think Wings was just a vehicle for solo Paul's whimsies, or if he might have thought about the rock band dynamics as he assemble songs for this album.

When he tries to have it both ways I think it dilutes the results.

 

My thoughts exactly. I enjoy it, it is a highlight, or as you said it would have been if it had an extra minute and another section or so.

 

I always liked Girlfriend -- Paul channeling the Jackson 5, and doing it pretty much perfectly. And how come no one notices that killer bass line? Listening to it now, and hearing how effortlessly Paul moves from his lower range to falsetto, does give me a bit of his pang considering how his voice has aged, but that's life. I wouldn't want a whole album of songs like this, but as one album track it's solid.

 

One could say this about several of Paul's song fragments over the years, including a couple we'll get to on the next album.

 

Not being familiar with the ' London Town ' album , I've been refraining from commenting but I feel lonely and left out so I gotta say something....
Another crappy album cover !

 

Yes. Yet another one.

Solo Beatle albums in general do not get high marks for album art.

 

I like the back cover better than the front! Linda looks great, although Denny looks a little goofy. The poster that came with it tho...

 

It’s funny, here he channels MJ with Girlfriend and on the next album he channels Stevie Wonder (Arrow Through Me), both of which he will collaborate with in the early 80’s.

 

Next one

I ve had enough

Back in the screaming rocker chair this one didn t chart as good as most other wings singles. It s a decent rock n roll number with a cathy chorus. In my wiew though not one of Pauls more memorable ventures into this genre.
A catchy tune nevertheless

Wikipedia:

“I’ve Had Enough” is a Wings’ single from their 1978 album London Town. It reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 24 in Canada and No. 42 in the UK.

The song was written and sung by Paul McCartney. The music and an improvised chorus were recorded on board the boat Fair Carol in the Virgin Islands prior to the departure of Wings’ lead guitarist Jimmy McCulloch and drummer Joe English. According to McCartney, they didn’t have any of the words until the band returned to London from the Fair Carol recording sessions. He then wrote “a few” words and overdubbed the lyrics in London. McCartney referred to it as “just one of those ‘fed up’ songs.”

The song is in the key of D major. Music professor Vincent Benitez describes the song as a musically simple “guitar-dominated rocker,” with alternating verses and chorus following the introductory section. The lyrics primarily vent the singer’s frustration in the face of various circumstances.

Rolling Stone critic Janet Maslin claimed that “I’ve Had Enough” hints “at a minor mean streak, which “spices up” the London Town album “with a welcome note of discord.” McCartney biographer Peter A. Carlin claimed the song reflects “the righteous outrage of a man who can’t find his slippers.” Tom Waseleski of Beaver County Times praised McCartney’s “raspy, boyish vocal” as a throwback to his early days with the Beatles. Author Tim Riley calls it a “simplistic screamer.” Author John Blaney claims that it is “not very effective,” despite “a half decent riff and a snappy arrangement,” and suggests that the “negative” chorus may reflect McCartney’s dissatisfaction with the band at the time. In 2013, Rolling Stone Magazine rated it the #35 all-time Paul McCartney post-Beatles song, describing how it contrasted with Wings’ prior single, the “easygoing” “With a Little Luck” with “tough talk and guitars to match.” In that review, Rolling Stone suggested that the song’s “sarcastic snarl” was influenced by Elvis Costello.

The B-side, “Deliver Your Children”, was the second (and last) Denny Laine lead vocal on a Wings single. Maslin called “Deliver Your Children” “just wonderful,” calling it one of the best songs on London Town.

Last updated on February 22, 2014

Lyrics

You're talking to me from the back of the car
And I can't get nothing right
And then you wonder why I stand at the bar
Day and night

Chorus

I've had enough
I can't put up with any more
No no no no no no no
I've had enough
I can't put up with any more
No no no no no no no

You stand behind me with a watch in your hand
And I can't get nothing done
Well, people tell me you're a punctual man
But come on

Chorus

I earn the money and you take it away
When I don't know where you're from
I should be worried but they say
It'll pay for a bomb

Chorus

I've had enough

Baby you know sometimes you get a little weary
But if it ever happens honey
You just come along to me
Because you know

Chorus

 

Justifiably,too, IMO I love UA/AH , best. track. ever.

medley of Uncle Albert, for about 2:27, which has a verse, breif 20 sec. (??) instrumental passage, another verse,a brief instrumental where Paul plays "talk on the phone' (old school radio like stuff IMHO)., a few more notes, then"Admiral Halsey" for the rest of the track and single.

AH has a perky sax/horn passage repeated several times (keep reading), with "Hands across the water (water)/hand/Hands across the Sky", a military call (AH was a British WWII admiral) then the same repeated, then the one verse , chorus, bridge, chorus , another instrumental part (repeat) of the open to this part, chorus, instrumental fade out. Same basic song both ALBUM and SINGLE, though one would expect a few edited out verses for obvious rteason.s (Was the character of Unlce Albert based on Mary Poppins's Uncle Albert, as played in the 1964 Disney classic by the great, hilarious, Ed Wynn?)

 

I have the record..I agree!

 

VERY much like a "YELLOW SUBMARINE" lol (that is the FIRST I think of when I HEAR that SONG, post-Beatles though it IS! )

 

Another Day 10/10
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey 10/10
T00 Many People 7/10
'

 

This was another :suite", well near-one with the unique vocal verse/instr.hook/bridge/hook/etc/.. and fit the movie..! (And, I have that one!)

 

That's funny. I always liked Linda on the front cover better. She looked totally baked on the back cover.

It's probably my favorite Wings poster but the arm placement on Paul was weird. Like, is that Denny's arm with a ladies watch on? Did Linda break her arm to get it in that position?

 

Yeah she does look baked I guess! Or just really relaxed... those water wings sessions must have been fun!

I’m pretty sure that’s Linda’s hand...?

 

Agree 100%. It's with under-developed songs like this one that you get the picture of how much Paul benefited from the input of having another great songwriter in the band -- and viceversa, of course.

 

It is. It better be!

Could be from a fourth mystery person.