Women And Wives

Song facts

“Women And Wives” is a track from 2020 album “McCartney III“.

Written after reading a biography of legendary blues singer Huddie ‘Lead Belly’ Ledbetter. During the writing, Paul decided to sing in a more bluesy baritone, echoing Lead Belly’s style of delivery. Paul also plays Bill Black’s double bass on the track. Black is best known as Elvis Presley’s bass player. The lyric reminds the listener that ‘What we do with our lives seems to matter to others’. Paul has commented that he thinks the lyrics offer the listener good adive. Advice he tries to follow himself.

From Spotify Storyline. Storyline is a feature of Spotify that gives behind-the-scenes information from artists about their songs, presented with a carousel of cards featuring a combination of text and images.

I wrote this when I was in Los Angeles and I had just been reading a book on the Blues artist Lead Belly, so I was trying to get in this bluesy mood so I played on the piano, played some simple chords and started singing in what I imagined was like bluesy [sings], so that was that and then I recorded it at the studio in England.

Paul McCartney, from NME, December 23, 2020

“Women And Wives” contains a lot of wisdom. “Many choices to make / Many chains to unravel / Every path that we take / Makes it harder to travel” Is this you, handing down advice to a younger generation?

I think so. This arrived when I was reading a book on Lead Belly. I was deep in the South and the blues and I sat at the piano one day and started playing the chords at the beginning of the song. Lead Belly inspired that vocal style – “Well,
mama…” – that Southern blues thing. It suited that song. “Hear me, husband and lovers / What we do with our lives…” Then I was off on the trail. So suddenly, “Seems to matter to others”. Hey, let’s think about what we’re handing down to them. As a parent and grandparent, you think that kind of stuff.

Paul McCartney, in UNCUT interview, January 2021

Favorite song on this album? Possibly a little song called “Women and Wives”

Paul McCartney – from interview with Chris Rock, December 17, 2020

It’s funny, in the middle of that, there was like, there’s no solo. And normally, when you’re running through the chords, in the middle of a song, you’re leaving space for a solo. But the more it went on, I thought, I like it without a solo. So because I was just doing it to please myself, it doesn’t have a solo.

Paul McCartney about “Women And Wives” – interview with BBC Radio 4, December 18, 2020

I should just add, on Women and Wives Paul used upright bass – Bill Black’s (Elvis’ bass player) upright bass. It’s very famously owned by Paul, he’s had that a long time. It’s a Kay Maestro M-1. It’s still strung right-handed for Bill Black, Paul just turns it around and plays it the other way round! It’s a lovely sound, it’s 1952 or 53 I think I’ve managed to pin it down to, and Paul’s owned it for 20-25 years. He bought it, I think, from Scotty Moore’s family.

Keith Smith – from interview with MusicRadar, December 2020

An alternative version of “Women And Wives” was released as a bonus track on some versions of “McCartney III“.

In 2021, for the “McCartney III Imagined” project, American musician St. Vincent reimagined the song “Women And Wives“.

Last updated on April 18, 2021

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