Paul McCartney Was the Only One Who Thought This Track Should Be a Wings Single—Unsurprisingly, He Was Right

Paul McCartney’s decades-long success as a recording artist is rooted not only in his songwriting capabilities but also in his ability to ignore naysayers when they suggest a song isn’t worth releasing. As the “granny” songwriter of The Beatles, McCartney had plenty of experience leading a band through discomfort. (The sessions for “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” immediately come to mind.)

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But this creative dissonance didn’t stop with The Beatles. In fact, McCartney found himself in a similar position three years after the Fab Four’s split, ahead of Wings’ 1972 release of “Mary Had A Little Lamb”. Speaking to Melody Maker that year, McCartney revealed that he had to defend his desire to release a track based on the old nursery rhyme.

“I was the only one who thought it should have been a single,” McCartney said. “‘Mary’ sold [as] many copies as ‘Tumbling Dice’ in England, you know, so, there. There was a critical thing about it. But listen, the point is we were all babies, and there are still a lot around who like to sing the song.” Still, McCartney was willing to admit that other tracks could have been stronger singles. But they were missing that universal element.

The Song Really Found Its Groove During the Live Performances

At face value, the idea of releasing a revamped nursery rhyme seems so Paul McCartney-esque that it’s almost satirical. After all, in what world could rock ‘n’ roll and children’s songs combine without coming across as pure novelty? But as the Wings founder explained to Melody Maker, the real magic happened when the band performed it live. And that was a development not even he was expecting.

“I think I was kinda wrong, in a way,” he admitted about releasing “Mary” as a single. “But on tour, the audience really picked up on that one and sang the ‘la la’s. Some of the numbers that would have been better singles didn’t work so well live, so there’s another side to it, too.”

Some music journalists speculated that McCartney’s decision to release “Mary Had A Little Lamb” stemmed from pushback against Wings’ previous single, “Give Ireland Back To The Irish”. However, McCartney refuted these claims. Rather, McCartney was doing something different, which he was often wont to do. He took an opportunity to dive deeper into all the verses of an old nursery rhyme and really dive into the story.

McCartney said he “never knew the whole story,” adding, “Everyone’s wondering why this lamb is hanging about ‘cause Mary loves the lamb. To me, that’s like a heavy trip, those lyrics. It’s very spiritual when someone hangs around because it’s loved. I’m sure no one ever thinks about those kinds of things.”

But thank goodness for musicians like McCartney who encourage us to try.

Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns