Beware My Love

"Beware My Love" is a rock song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney that was first released on the Wings 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was also used as the B-side of the single that included "Let 'Em In". A live version recorded on June 7, 1976, in Denver, Colorado, was included on the Wings' album Wings Over America and another live version from three days later in Seattle, Washington, was shown in the concert film Rockshow.[1] An excerpt from the Rockshow performance was also included in the documentary Wings Over the World.[1]

"Beware My Love"
German label
Single by Wings
from the album Wings at the Speed of Sound
A-side"Let 'Em In"
Released23 July 1976
Recorded23 January 1976
GenreHard rock
Length6:28
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Paul McCartney
Wings at the Speed of Sound track listing
11 tracks
Side one
  1. "Let 'Em In"
  2. "The Note You Never Wrote"
  3. "She's My Baby"
  4. "Beware My Love"
  5. "Wino Junko"
Side two
  1. "Silly Love Songs"
  2. "Cook of the House"
  3. "Time to Hide"
  4. "Must Do Something About It"
  5. "San Ferry Anne"
  6. "Warm and Beautiful"

Lyrics and music

Like a number of successful Paul McCartney songs, "Beware My Love" is made of several disparate elements.[1][2] The song begins with a brief harmonium melody followed by a repeated acoustic guitar figure. (The song's album version has the previous song, "She's My Baby", fading out into the harmonium intro; "Beware"'s single version fades in as the harmonium part fades out into the acoustic guitar riff.)[3] This calm intro provides a contrast with the propulsiveness of main body of the song.[4] Linda McCartney sings the intro and outro movements, with her voice multi-tracked, effectively singing on behalf of Paul McCartney—who sings the lead vocal in the main song.[3][5] Over the course of the song, Paul McCartney's singing, as well as the music, intensifies.[3] In the main verses, the singer warns the woman he loves to beware because he does not believe that the other man she is seeing is right for her.[3] In the bridges, he tells the woman that although he must leave now, "I'll leave my message in my song."[2][3] (Author Robert Rodriguez finds this line ironic, since he believes the song apparently has no message.[2] Authors Chip Madinger and Mark Easter assert that the verses and chorus don't seem to have much to do with each other.[1])

"Beware My Love" is a mid-tempo rock song that John Blaney compared to Wings' "Rock Show" and "Soily" and author Tim Riley compared to the Beatles' "Helter Skelter."[5][6] It is in the key of D minor, although the harmonium and acoustic guitar sections of the prelude are in C major and A major, respectively.[3] The melody of the bridges is based on a descending tetrachord played on the bass guitar.[3] Rodriguez particularly praises Paul McCartney's bass guitar playing, Joe English's drumming and Linda McCartney's and Denny Laine's backing vocals.[2] The song was recorded in a manner that replicated a live recording set up, with all the players recorded together.[5] McCartney stated that he was looking to achieve "excitement in the backing vocal so it's human; you can hear we're all there."[5]

Critical reception

"Beware My Love" has been praised for being the only true rock song on Wings at the Speed of Sound, an album containing mostly ballads and disco-influenced songs. Blaney described the song as being meant to "dispel accusations that Wings were becoming a group of disco-loving softies."[5] In reviewing the album, Allmusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called "Beware My Love" "the best-written song here that effortlessly moves from sun-drenched harmonies to hard rock."[7] Rock music critic Robert Christgau claimed that on the album, McCartney is "at full strength only on the impassioned 'Beware My Love.'"[8] Billboard said it "is in the "Maybe I'm Amazed" vein and is probably his strongest rocker since that song."[9] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Nick DeRiso felt it was the best song on the album, praising its "remarkably layered complexity."[10] Doug Pringle of The Montreal Gazette called the song "the only unqualified success on the album," noting that "it builds from a gentle acoustic beginning to become the only truly electric song on the album."[11] Frank Rose of The Village Voice called this song and Denny Laine's contribution to the album, "Time to Hide" "great, the kind of production numbers McCartney likes to trot out when he knows he's got a real rocker."[12] Rolling Stone critic Dave Marsh also praised "Beware My Love" and "Time to Hide" as well as "Let 'Em In" as successful examples of McCartney's rock style.[13][14] Jim Beviglia of Culture Sonar said that while the lyrics don't mean much, "McCartney pushes them across with such screaming conviction that they hit home along with the plentiful instrumental hooks."[4] Rodriguez considered "Beware My Love" to be the only song on Wings at the Speed of Sound to be as good as the best songs from Wings' previous two albums, Band on the Run and Venus and Mars.[2] CD Review magazine described "Beware My Love" as "a fiery rocker."[15] Beatle authors Roy Carr and Tony Tyler used "Beware My Love" as an example of Wings at the Speed of Sound being strong melodically.[16] Madinger and Easter described it as one "of the best songs on the LP."[1]

Rodriguez was even more effusive in his praise of the live version of the song on Wings Over America, which is a minute and half shorter than the studio version, praising Jimmy McCulloch's guitar playing, Laine's piano playing and English's drum rolls.[2] Larry Rohter of The Washington Post described the performance on Wings Over America as "rollicking" and "exciting."[17] Ben Fong-Torres described McCartney's live performance of the song as "reaching back for some of that Little Richard inspiration."[18] Jon Marlowe of Miami News described the performance of "Beware My Love" in Rockshow as "rollicking" and one of the two moments in the film that feels like being at a rock show.[19]

According to DeRiso, as good as the Wings at the Speed of Sound version is, an unreleased version that McCartney recorded with Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham was even better.[10]

References
  1. Madinger, C. & Easter, M. (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You. 44.1 Productions. pp. 214–215, 222, 227–228. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
  2. Rodriguez, R. (2010). Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years 1970–1980. Hal Leonard. pp. 185, 374–375. ISBN 978-0-87930-968-8.
  3. Benitez, V.P. (2010). The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years. Praeger. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-0-313-34969-0.
  4. Beviglia, Jim (October 14, 2017). "The 10 Best Paul McCartney Songs You May Never Have Heard". Culture Sonar. Retrieved 2019-07-18.
  5. Blaney, J. (2007). Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work. Jawbone Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-1-906002-02-2.
  6. Riley, T. (2002). Tell me why: a Beatles commentary. Da Capo. p. 359. ISBN 978-0-306-81120-3.
  7. Erlewine, S.T. "Wings at the Speed of Sound". Allmusic. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  8. Christgau, R. "Robert Christgau: Wings". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 1 November 2011.
  9. "Top Album Picks" (PDF). Billboard. April 3, 1976. p. 68. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  10. DeRiso, Nick. "The Best Song from Every Paul McCartney Album". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  11. Pringle, D. (17 April 1976). "Spin Off". Montreal Gazette. p. 41. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  12. Rose, F. (3 May 1976). "Paul's Back: What's Wrong with That?". The Village Voice. p. 88. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  13. Marsh, D. (May 7, 1976). "Rolling Stone". The Journal. p. 15. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  14. Marsh, D. (13 May 1976). "Wings Latest Album Clear, Direct". Lakeland Ledger. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  15. CD Review, Volume 7, Issues 1–6. WGE. 1990. p. 40.
  16. Carr, R. & Tyler, T. (1978). The Beatles: An illustrated record. Harmony Books. p. 118. ISBN 0-517-53367-7.
  17. Rohter, L. (2 January 1977). "1976 to be remembered as the year of live albums". Spokesman-Review. p. 12. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
  18. Fong-Torres, B. (1999). Not fade away: a backstage pass to 20 years of rock & roll. Hal Leonard. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-87930-590-1.
  19. Marlowe, J. (4 February 1981). "Wings Rock Show dismal no show". Miami News. p. 15. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
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