Love In Song
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- Album This song officially appears on the Venus and Mars Official album.
Song facts
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]
Last updated on February 22, 2014
Lyrics
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.
Officially appears on
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
Bootlegs
Latest concerts where Love In Song has been played
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.