Released in 1975
Love In Song
Written by Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney
Last updated on February 22, 2014
Released in 1975
Written by Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney
Last updated on February 22, 2014
Album This song officially appears on the Venus and Mars Official album.
Timeline This song was officially released in 1975
This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:
Nov 07, 1974
Venus And Mars sessions at Sea-Saint Studios
January 16th - February 24th, 1975
Feb 27, 1975
String overdubs for Venus And Mars album
Mar 10, 1975
Mar 19, 1975
McCartney: 'Abbey Road' revisited
May 31, 1975 • From Melody Maker
From Wikipedia:
“Love in Song” is a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney that was released on Wings’ 1975 album Venus and Mars. It was also released as the B-side of Wings’ number 1 single “Listen to What the Man Said.” It has been covered by artists such as Helen Merrill and The Judybats.
“Love in Song” was initially written on Paul McCartney’s 12 string guitar, and McCartney has claimed the song “just came to him.” It was one of the early songs recorded for Venus and Mars, at Abbey Road Studios in London in late 1974. String overdubs were added at Wally Heider Studios in Lost Angeles on March 10, 1975. In addition to playing 12 string guitar and singing lead vocals, Paul McCartney plays upright bass, using the same bass that Bill Black played on Elvis Presley hits such as “Heartbreak Hotel.” Denny Laine and Jimmy McCulloch also play guitar, and Linda McCartney sings backing vocals. “Love in Song” is one of the few Venus and Mars songs on which Geoff Britton plays drums, as the song was recorded before he was replaced as Wings’ drummer by Joe English.
Several critics have described “Love in Song” as having a melancholy quality. The first and third verses express a degree of sadness, as the singer cries out to his lover in the first verse and he sings of sadness that resulted from a misunderstanding in the third. In contrast, in the second and fourth verses the singer sings of how everything is fine when he has his love. In the bridge, the singer remembers a time when he and his lover were happier. McCartney biographer Peter Carlin describes the song as a “portrait of heartbreak,” claiming it “traced the thin line between love and obsession.”
Author Robert Rodriguez describes the song as a “delicate ballad.” Beaver County Times critic Bob Bonn described the melody as “mysterious sounding.” Music professor Vincent Benitez describes the song’s key as G Aeolian, a melancholy key. Author John Blaney describes the arrangement as “measured,” claiming that contributes the singer distancing himself from the subject, although he believes that McCartney’s warm vocal “more than compensates for the song’s guarded tone.”
Rodriguez considers “Love in Song” to be one of McCartney’s “better efforts,” although he claims that it is neglected today. Rough Guide to The Beatles author Chris Ingham considers it a “luxurious acoustic ballad.” Rolling Stone Magazine critic Paul Nelson found “Love in Song” to be one of several “banal ballads” on Venus and Mars. Music critic Richard Tozier described the song as a “formal, yet easily palatable ballad.”[10]
Helen Merrill covered “Love in Song” on the 2005 album Love Is Song.[11] The Judybats covered it on the 2001 album Listen to What the Man Said: Popular Artists Pay Tribute to the Music of Paul McCartney.[12]
My heart cries out for love
and all that goes with loving
Love in song, love in song
My, you’re so fine
When love is mine
I can’t go wrong,
Love in song, love in song.
I can see the places that
we used to go to now
Happiness in the homeland
Happiness in the homeland
My eye cries out
A tear still born
Misunderstanding
Love in song
Love in song.
I can see the places that
we used to go to now
Happiness in the homeland
Happiness in the homeland
My, you’re so fine
When love is mine
I can’t go wrong.
Love in song
Love in song.
Love in song.
Listen To What The Man Said / Love In Song
7" Single • Released in 1975
3:07 • Studio version • A1
Paul McCartney : Bass, Hand bells, Piano, Producer, Strings arrangement, Vocals Linda McCartney : Backing vocals, Hand bells, Moog Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Piano Jimmy McCulloch : 12-string guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Geoff Britton : Drums, Milk bottles Sid Sharp Strings : Bass, Celli, Viola, Violins Gayle Levant : Harp Tony Dorsey : Strings arrangement Alan O'Duffy : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer (overdubs & strings) Biff Dawes : Assistant mixing engineer
Session Recording: Nov 07, 1974 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - February 1975 • Studio Sea-Saint Recording Studio, New Orleans, USA
Session Overdubs: Feb 27 and Mar 10, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios & Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Session Mixing: Mar 19, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios, Los Angeles, USA
Official album • Released in 1975
3:07 • Studio version • A
Paul McCartney : Bass, Hand bells, Piano, Producer, Strings arrangement, Vocals Linda McCartney : Backing vocals, Hand bells, Moog Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Piano Jimmy McCulloch : 12-string guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Geoff Britton : Drums, Milk bottles Sid Sharp Strings : Bass, Celli, Viola, Violins Gayle Levant : Harp Tony Dorsey : Strings arrangement Alan O'Duffy : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer (overdubs & strings) Biff Dawes : Assistant mixing engineer
Session Recording: Nov 07, 1974 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - February 1975 • Studio Sea-Saint Recording Studio, New Orleans, USA
Session Overdubs: Feb 27 and Mar 10, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios & Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Session Mixing: Mar 19, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios, Los Angeles, USA
Official album • Released in 1993
3:07 • Studio version • A1993 • 1993 remaster
Paul McCartney : Bass, Hand bells, Piano, Producer, Strings arrangement, Vocals Linda McCartney : Backing vocals, Hand bells, Moog Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Piano Jimmy McCulloch : 12-string guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Geoff Britton : Drums, Milk bottles Sid Sharp Strings : Bass, Celli, Viola, Violins Gayle Levant : Harp Tony Dorsey : Strings arrangement Alan O'Duffy : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer (overdubs & strings) Biff Dawes : Assistant mixing engineer Peter Mew : Remastering
Session Recording: Nov 07, 1974 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - February 1975 • Studio Sea-Saint Recording Studio, New Orleans, USA
Session Overdubs: Feb 27 and Mar 10, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios & Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Session Mixing: Mar 19, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios, Los Angeles, USA
Venus And Mars - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2014
3:07 • Studio version • A2014
Paul McCartney : Bass, Hand bells, Piano, Producer, Strings arrangement, Vocals Linda McCartney : Backing vocals, Hand bells, Moog Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Piano Jimmy McCulloch : 12-string guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Geoff Britton : Drums, Milk bottles Sid Sharp Strings : Bass, Celli, Viola, Violins Gayle Levant : Harp Tony Dorsey : Strings arrangement Alan O'Duffy : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer (overdubs & strings) Biff Dawes : Assistant mixing engineer
Session Recording: Nov 07, 1974 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - February 1975 • Studio Sea-Saint Recording Studio, New Orleans, USA
Session Overdubs: Feb 27 and Mar 10, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios & Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Session Mixing: Mar 19, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios, Los Angeles, USA
Venus And Mars (Limited Red & Yellow LP)
Official album • Released in 2017
3:07 • Studio version • A2014
Paul McCartney : Bass, Hand bells, Piano, Producer, Strings arrangement, Vocals Linda McCartney : Backing vocals, Hand bells, Moog Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Piano Jimmy McCulloch : 12-string guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Geoff Britton : Drums, Milk bottles Sid Sharp Strings : Bass, Celli, Viola, Violins Gayle Levant : Harp Tony Dorsey : Strings arrangement Alan O'Duffy : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer (overdubs & strings) Biff Dawes : Assistant mixing engineer
Session Recording: Nov 07, 1974 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - February 1975 • Studio Sea-Saint Recording Studio, New Orleans, USA
Session Overdubs: Feb 27 and Mar 10, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios & Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Session Mixing: Mar 19, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios, Los Angeles, USA
7" Single • Released in 2022
3:07 • Studio version • A2014
Paul McCartney : Bass, Hand bells, Piano, Producer, Strings arrangement, Vocals Linda McCartney : Backing vocals, Hand bells, Moog Denny Laine : Backing vocals, Electric guitar, Piano Jimmy McCulloch : 12-string guitar Geoff Emerick : Recording engineer Geoff Britton : Drums, Milk bottles Sid Sharp Strings : Bass, Celli, Viola, Violins Gayle Levant : Harp Tony Dorsey : Strings arrangement Alan O'Duffy : Mixing engineer, Recording engineer (overdubs & strings) Biff Dawes : Assistant mixing engineer
Session Recording: Nov 07, 1974 • Studio EMI Studios, Abbey Road
Session Overdubs: January - February 1975 • Studio Sea-Saint Recording Studio, New Orleans, USA
Session Overdubs: Feb 27 and Mar 10, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios & Sunset Sound Recorders Studio, Los Angeles, USA
Session Mixing: Mar 19, 1975 • Studio Wally Heider Studios, Los Angeles, USA
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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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