Paul McCartney/Wings-song by song thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Bemagnus, Sep 11, 2019.

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  1. coco77

    coco77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    Little Lamb Dragonfly. I’m so glad this song is getting the love it deserves! This is another one I heard for the first time and my mind was blown. I thought Wings was supposed to be really bad?! An absolute classic, it’s brought me to tears many times.

    ”In my heart, I feel the pain... keeps coming back again”

    it never fails to give me a little cathartic emotional release. Love love love it.

    Some really beautiful and personal lyrics here, IMO it’s pretty obviously inspired by the John situation. (Whatever beatle critics might think! John and Paul aren’t cardboard cutouts, come on guys) I don’t doubt the story of the lamb part, but as Paul is wont to do he takes it in another direction entirely for the dragonfly sections. How did two rights make a wrong indeed! I also love,

    “The years ahead will show, how little we really know”

    especially affecting knowing what the years ahead did hold (very prescient of Paul, although he didn’t know that).

    Also I didn’t realize that was Denny S. singing the intro part! I always thought it was Denny L. doing a weird voice. I used to not like it much, but I’ve grown to appreciate how much more impactful it makes it when Paul sings the same lines later on. Such a beautiful passionate performance from him here, and I’m a fan of the backup vocals too. “Can’t you see me, I’m flying!” Love the sort of rising, rolling feel of the whole song, and the tension and release of the different sections.

    I’ve also read the little lamb sections are about Julian, and the la la la’s are a callback to Hey Jude na na na’s, but I think that might be taking it a bit too far IMO. But who knows really. People might think I’m reading too much into it by thinking it’s about John. :)

    5/5 10/10 A+! Possibly my favorite Wings song? Or at least top 5 depending on the day!
     
  2. Paul Gase

    Paul Gase Everything is cheaper than it looks.

    Location:
    California
    Little Lamb Dragonfly: One of the best on RRS. Love the intro especially, all of those guitars. Beautiful.

    Lyrically, this is a case in point where these aren’t world beating lyrics, but they tell a story and move the song along with some emotion. Unlike songs like Big Barn Bed, which is gibberish. If this makes me a lyric guy, well I don’t know. I just like to hear a little effort in the words and a connection to the music. Good job on that here.

    I dock LLD points for piling on too much as it builds. The drums are buried and the rhythm kind of sags. The song modulates keys in the latter third which is a cheap trick to build drama. I don’t think it works very well here, and that last dragonfly verse just gets piled on with more instruments and backing vocals to the point that it starts sounding like The Partridge Family, esp with the backing vocals, and not in a good way (I don’t mind PF at their best).
     
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  3. Daniel Plainview

    Daniel Plainview God's Lonely Man

    LLD - 5/5, 10/10. My favorite song on the album. 12 string jangle, la las with string surge, SINCE YOU'VE GONE... It is a strangely comforting recording.
     
  4. Perian

    Perian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oslo
    Excellent post! If I could listen to only one McCartney song for the rest of my life, even including the Beatles, this would be it. I love it so much.
     
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  5. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    No need to explain further, you could have just stopped right there.:wave:
     
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  6. omikron

    omikron Avid contributor to Paul McCartney's bank account

    Location:
    Lexington, KY
    Hey Mr. When Paul does a song about a duck next, you'll be sorry.

    Did you know there is actually a Dr. Pepper "song" by Paul? It's about 10 or so seconds long from the Piano Tapes if I remember correctly.
     
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  7. MPLRecords

    MPLRecords Owner of eleven copies of Tug of War

    Location:
    Lake Ontario
    Even less!
    00:04
     
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  8. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    Yes, of course I know that. Paul often liked to write about me, I'm also both the Little Lamb and The Dragon Fly. I also used to go by the name of Rocky Racoon. Omikrom, we are both featured in Mary Had A Little Lamb, I of course, am the Little Lamb again, while you make a fine Mary!:biglaugh:
     
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  9. omikron

    omikron Avid contributor to Paul McCartney's bank account

    Location:
    Lexington, KY
    [​IMG]
     
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  10. BZync

    BZync Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Get On The Right Thing is a RRS highlight for me. It's an exciting track and the Linda led backing vocals are infectious. The lead vocal is great. The song itself feels slightly unfocused, especially in the way the rhythm momentum is regularly broken, but as a whole it works far more than it doesn't.

    I guess it would fit really well on Ram also. Certainly, if it were to replace either Smile Away or Monkberry it would have made Ram that much stronger. But Red Rose Speedway really needs the energy of this track, so I am happy to have it where it is.
     
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  11. BZync

    BZync Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    One More Kiss is an unambitious little ditty. Given those limitations, it is very successful and a welcome addition to RRS. The "only one more kiss" hook is mighty on its own and, by itself, might qualify this song for single status. I have a very strong memory of 1973 AM radio and this would have fit right in.
     
  12. BZync

    BZync Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Little Lamb Dragonfly is one of my favorite songs by Paul and certainly the best track on Red Rose Speedway.

    There is a lot to like about this song but mostly I think its success is due to its emotional content. The vocal is very passionate, the lyrics are simply touching. But much credit must go to George Martin's score and those French horns. There's something about a French horn that makes the most stoic person instantly break into tears. Well, maybe not, but I find the French horn to be a very melancholy sounding instrument. No doubt George Martin knows how to arrange an orchestra and in a career of highlights, this is a strong one for me.

    And there's something about how the main acoustic guitar riff slows down that sounds desperately sad to me.

    Dragonfly gets my vote for the very best of Paul's lesser known songs. 45 years on I still have it on a regular playlist and, therefore, both my wife and daughter have learned it and love it.
     
  13. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun Thread Starter

    Nice write-up of a great song
    Seems to be pretty much concensus here about this one
    Absolutely agree about George Marins score
     
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  14. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun Thread Starter

    I wonder if anyone notice the similarity between the start of Little lamb dragonfly and John Lennons Woman
    Just a coincidence I guess
     
  15. Bruce M.

    Bruce M. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hilo, HI, USA
    I guess I get to be the dissenter here again. I like Little Lamb Dragonfly, but don't love it. It has some of the best lyrics of Paul's early post-Beatles years and a lovely melody, but as a whole the recording just doesn't quite work for me. The vocal in places feels a bit arch and pseudo-operatic, and the backing vocals have always felt clunky and heavy-handed to me. To me this could have been a near-masterpiece, but it just doesn't quite get there for me.
     
  16. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun Thread Starter

    There is one in every crowd
    :)
     
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  17. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun Thread Starter

    The intro to Little lamb dragonfly have some simlarities to Lennns Woman
    Imo of course
    :)
     
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  18. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    Has anyone noticed that the beginning of LLD and John's song Woman have a sameness about them? Anyone? Anyone, Bueller?
     
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  19. Bruce M.

    Bruce M. Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hilo, HI, USA
    And it's frequently me.
     
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  20. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun Thread Starter

    Next one
    Side 2 of Red Rose Speedway start with the short and sweet Single Pidgeon
    Another somewhat melancholic song with a nice and sparse arrangement
    The track sounds a bit like something from the White album. I also think if the at the time very popular singer/songwriter Gilbert o Sullivan. He was obviosly influenced by Paul but something in the melodic patterns of this song shows a reverse influence.
    I like this song a lot-just like a few other tracks on the album it creates certain emotions of loss
    -and of course love
    I foun this nice write-up of the song on Mcartet and could not

    ”Now this is a real little gem. This is the track, that I feel could have replaced English Tea on Chaos and been perfect for that album. A shame is was released 32 years earlier!

    The point I am making is Paul can produce sheer magic in this kind of song without resorting to the likes of 'You gave me the answer', 'Baby's Request', English Tea' etc. Here he does a song that could have come from a bygone era with sheer class.

    Single Pigeon has a beautiful melody and is played in an understated way. It conveys sadness and is a really lonely song which involves you from the outset.

    It is fill of lovely little tempo changes and the whole song glides along effortlessley. Single Pigeon is sincere and has meaning rather than coming across clever and tacky like some of Paul's can do. This one IS clever and the polar opposite of tacky.

    The lyrics are good and contains one of my favourite couplets. 'Sunday morning fight about Saturday night
    Wonderful”

    .Single pidgeon through the railings
    Did she throw you out
    Sunday morning fight about Saturday night

    Single seagull gliding over Regent's Park canal
    Do you need a pal for a minute or two
    You do?
    Me too, me too, me too
    I'm a lot like you,
    Me too, me too, me too
    I'm a lot like you

    Did she turf you out in the cold morning rain again
    Me too, me too, me too
    I'm a lot like you
    Me too, me too, me too
    I'm a lot like you

    Sunday morning fight about Saturday night.
    A great melody helps making this track another winner. A nice and moody piece
     
    Last edited: Oct 22, 2019
  21. Dr. Pepper

    Dr. Pepper What, me worry?

    Single Pigeon 7/10

    I like this one, but no epic song or anything. Just a solid track.
     
  22. Paul Gase

    Paul Gase Everything is cheaper than it looks.

    Location:
    California
    I love Single Pigeon. An example of pure McCartney. Establishes a great tone/vibe immediately. Short song, but those were in short supply so it’s welcome. A favorite of mine on both single and double album versions.

    it’s a good one! Better than the rest of Side 2.
     
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  23. Bemagnus

    Bemagnus Music is fun Thread Starter

    Side 2 of Red rose Speedway is a strange breed indeed. I guess one like it a lot or can t stand it.
    RRS is a weird album-perhaps one of the stranger ones of Pauls. Personally I have always had a soft spot for it. I was from the start a bit surprised. That is because I witnessed Wings live 1972 and expected a few of the great rockers showcased then. Of course we now have the double-album
    On it s own term though I find the original album very enjoyable. Weird but great
     
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  24. Yorick

    Yorick Senior Member

    Location:
    the Netherlands
    Single Pigeon 9/10

    Another highlight! This could have fit well on any of McCartney’s best rated solo albums or indeed The White Album.
     
  25. WilliamWes

    WilliamWes Likes to sing along but he knows not what it means

    Location:
    New York
    Yes, I think a songwriter does lyrics and music and with Paul, people are so split whether he's good or not in the lyrics category that it's good to pinpoint to the good and the bad and not just assume an entire period is one way or another. Like with this album for example - if we didn't talk lyrics, we wouldn't know Paul has an obsession with nighttime in this period.

    Would have been cool to have some kind of night themed album here -I wasn't surprised seeing "Night Out" as the original leadoff track on the 2-LP. Not to jump ahead so I'll just stick to a few lyrics only...

    One More Kiss: I said a foolish thing last night
    Little Lamb Dragonfly: They go on, the lonely nights
    Single Pigeon: Sunday morning fight about Saturday night
    When The Night
    Loup (First Indian On The Moon)
    Hold Me Tight: You won't be going out tonight
    Lazy Dynamite: Won't you come out tonight, when the time is right
    Hands Of Love: When I saw you last night, I knew for the first time...
    Power Cut: There may be a power cut and the candles burn down low (night scene)

    Even the bonus tracks continue mentioning/referencing 'night'

    Night Out
    The Mess: You sailed away one night in June
    Tragedy: From the stars, my dark has come
    Little Woman Love: I take her home most every night
    Hi Hi Hi: Won't say bye-bye 'til the night is done
    C Moon
     
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