Five Wings songs that should never have been released
Let’s not beat around the bush here, Paul McCartney is one of the greatest songwriters of all time. The work that he started with The Beatles has resonated for decades, and those tracks remain just as relevant now as they were when he initially released them. People were heartbroken when the Beatles split because they thought they might not get more songs like that, but McCartney persisted.
As a solo artist and while working with Wings, he also wrote a number of excellent tracks. Going through his discography is a real treasure trove, and it’s impossible to deny the magnitude of his talent. Looking through the decades of music he’s made is just further proof that he remains one of the best creatives on the planet.
Of course, even Paul McCartney is prone to a bad song. He wrote plenty for the Beatles, some would argue that those bad songs contributed towards the band’s split, and he also wrote some bad work as a solo artist and with Wings. While some tracks merely fall flat, there are others that would have been better left in the dark and unreleased.
Here, we will discuss the Wings songs that should have been left in the dark. These are five songs that the band should never have released.
Five Wings songs that should never have been released:
‘Letting Go’
OK, people might get mad at this one, and that’s understandable; the song is actually pretty good. As far as McCartney’s tunes go, this isn’t one of his worst efforts, and it’s a real treat to watch live, but the issue lies less in the song as a standalone piece and more in where it fits on the album.
The song features on Wings’ 1975 album Venus And Mars, sandwiched in between ‘Magneto And Titanium Man’ and the title track. It works on its own, but the placement on the album really kills the momentum of the record. It’s hard to get reinvested in the LP after the song, as it seems to really kill the mood.
‘She’s My Baby’
There are a few things to like about this song. Paul McCartney’s voice is on top form, and his vocal rhythm is also interesting, but that’s about where the compliments for ‘She’s My Baby’ stop.
The way that the track is put together feels a little strange. The jaunty feel to the track comes across as a bit cheesy, and it’s hard to take the sweet sentiment behind the song seriously. Not to mention, while McCartney’s singing is technically good, there are some inflexions which come across as strange. The way he says “she’s my baby,” for example, with an emphasis on the down swing.
‘Let Em In’
One of the main reasons the Beatles split up was the creative differences between the members. McCartney has always had an affinity for pop songs, writing with catchy melodies at the heart of everything he does. While many listeners enjoy this, his fellow bandmates weren’t as keen.
For the most part, McCartney has always written some exciting songs, but every now and then, that catchy melody becomes incredibly boring and overly simple. This is what happened with the track ‘Let Em In’, which is one of his more uninspired tracks for Wings that the band would have done better to leave behind.
‘Bip Bop’
We all knew this one was coming. As much as we love McCartney, he has released some pretty poor songs throughout his career. We heard this with the Beatles thanks to ‘Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da’, and we also heard it with Wings thanks to the song ‘Bip Bop’. Even McCartney himself said, “I’ve always hated that song.”
“That’s my theory, that in years to come, people may actually look at all my work rather than the context of it following the Beatles,” he added, “That’s the danger, as it came from ‘Here, There And Everywhere’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Fool On The Hill’, to ‘Bip Bop’, which is such an inconsequential little song.”
‘You Gave Me The Answer’
The last one on the list. This track falls into the same category as ‘Let Em In’, as the material is a pretty dull, oversimplistic offering. It’s not bad to listen to, but it feels like filler as opposed to something that the band have invested time into.
There are a lot of bands who would kill for a song like ‘You Gave Me The Answer’ to be the worst they’ve ever released, but we know the talent on display in Wings, and it means we’re well aware they can do better than this.
