John Lennon insulted Paul McCartney on a number of occasions, calling his songwriting “granny music”. Despite the juvenile connotation of that insult, it likely cut McCartney deeply. Many of McCartney’s most famous songs fall into this Lennon-defined category. He made his name off of wearing his heart on his sleeve and never shying away from the fanciful.
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His fans love him for this, but there are times when he took it too far. No one’s track record is perfect–not even a Beatle’s. Below, find three McCartney songs that are confusing listens, even for Macca superfans.
“Cook Of The House”
McCartney has many songs about domestic bliss, but few are as odd and on-the-nose as “Cook Of The House.” In this off-kilter rock anthem, Linda McCartney sings about her household duties. Ground rice, sugar, vinegar, Seco salt / Macaroni too, she sings, with some heavy vocal editing. This song feels like the kind of thing you’d hear in a dream or a children’s show you’d shut off quickly. We can never knock McCartney for trying new things. That’s a large part of his charm. But songs like “Cook Of The House” make it hard to deem all his experiments success stories.
“Mumbo”
There are good songs on Wild Life, despite the poor critical reaction upon its release. Many deemed this debut a far cry from McCartney’s run of success with the Beatles. It nearly ended Wings before they really began.
One song that really got under the skin of critics was “Mumbo”. It’s certainly not a song that’s for everyone. Despite having a delectably driving rhythm, McCartney’s yelling vocals at the beginning of this song proved to be grating to some. All in all, it’s not really a song you’d put on for a peaceful drive or as background noise. It demands your full attention. While that has merits in and of itself, they aren’t enough to earn this song a spot on the “best of” McCartney list.
“Mary Had A Little Lamb“
We truly don’t have anything bad to say about the sound of McCartney’s “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. The harmonies are stunning and the melody is instastiably catchy. However, it is a bit odd that a rock giant would choose to cover a nursery rhyme amid a largely original catalog.
McCartney is known for his diverse inspirations. After revamping show tunes and singing about fake personas, singing a nursery rhyme isn’t that odd. Nevertheless, we can’t help but feel this song sticks out like a sore thumb in McCartney’s catalog.
[RELATED: 3 Paul McCartney Songs That Could Easily Be Country Hits]
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