- Album This song officially appears on the Back To The Egg Official album.
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
June 29 - July 27, 1978
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Song facts
The folk acoustic side of the band was front and center for the ballad “Winter Rose.” This flowing minor key song fragment eventually became the intro to “Love Awake,” a lovely ballad that we started in Scotland, but would re-record a few months later at Lympne Castle. I played a picking pattern on an Ovation classical with a special pickup that directed alternate strings to either side of the stereo mix, with strings 6, 4 and 2 on the left and 5, 3, 1 on the right. This added a spatial atmosphere to Paul’s piano part that was supported by Steve’s muted drum pulse. The vocal is a little husky (I think Paul had a cold when it was recorded)’ but it fits the wintery mood of the piece.
Laurence Juber, in Guitar With Wings, 2014
Winter Rose. l played an Ovation classical wired in stereo. If you listen carefully you can hear the guitar jump from one speaker to the other. Paul played some harpsichord and Denny some double speed guitar.
Laurence Juber, from Club Sandwich N°14, April / May 1979
Last updated on March 7, 2020
Lyrics
All through the summer I have followed you around
Bringing a rose for the Winter that's coming
Now the snow is on the ground
Winter rose, Winter rose
Shine your light in the air
Winter rose, Winter rose
Shine your light everywhere
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1979
4:59 • Studio version • A
- Session Recording:
- June 29 - July 27, 1978
- Studio :
- Spirit Of Ranachan Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland
Official album • Released in 1993
4:59 • Studio version • A
- Session Recording:
- June 29 - July 27, 1978
- Studio :
- Spirit Of Ranachan Studio, Campbeltown, Scotland
Bootlegs
Live performances
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
Going further
Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989
With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.
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I just heard my daughter playing To the Garden by Alexandre Tansman on the piano and it sounds just like Winter Rose, at least in the beginning. Did Paul use his music or was this just coincidence?
Hi Julie, thanks for your message. I've read various books and none mentions this similitude... I guess it's coincidence !?
I can hear a fretless bass being used on the recording, so it's most likely Paul using his left-handed Rickenbacker fretless. Laurence said in 1979 that Denny played some double-speed guitar, but he didn't clarify if he meant Denny played an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar, considering that Laurence himself played an Ovation classical.
Thanks David. In an interview he gave to Luca Perasi, Laurence Juber said (in 2011) : "I played the picked arpeggio parts on an Ovation nylon-strung classical redorded direct in stereo. Paul played bass - it sounds like the Rickenbacker. I don't remember doing any overdubs, but it's possible I played some electric too"