Wings
Mary Had A Little Lamb/Little Woman Love

In 1972 McCartney and his critics are at loggerheads.

The latest single, "Give Ireland Back To The Irish", caused an uproar as it was released immediately after the events of "Bloody Sunday". Paul found himself banned from radio and TV with one of the few truly political and harsh tracks of his career. In reality, musically speaking, the song was bland and with a fairly banal text, but this wasn't considered at the time, and the track played a small role in the history of radio and TV censorship only to then fall quickly into oblivion. So, to respond to critics, he decides to record a nursery rhyme, indeed one of the most famous nursery rhymes in the United Kingdom, "Mary Had Little Lamb", a rural and dreamy story of a little girl and her lamb. The song has an almost cloying simplicity, and Paul justifies its recording by stating that his daughter Mary likes to hear her name in a song. To increase the level of sweetness and lightness, he has Linda sing a swooning long La, La, La, La chorus. The result was the song sold very well, the critics were fooled by good old Macca, and his Wings began to take off, even if they had a very limited repertoire made mostly of simple little things that, when taken on tour, were a bit unimpressive. But the important thing was to get started, and Paul proved capable of holding his own against anyone.

It’s surprising how easily he plays with his music. He didn't record in the early '70s to prove he was the Paul of the Beatles. He allowed fans and critics to remain at his feet, and everyone asked the same question: "When will he compose a new Yesterday?". History proved him right, he composed many memorable works after this crazy 1972. The Paul of those times is no more, and there may never again be someone like him, courageous and a bit arrogant who allowed himself to treat music as a game while others at that time were trying to change the world with notes.

The B-side is a curious Boogie sung with Linda, an honest song recorded for pleasure that certainly doesn't aim to shock the listener. With the next single "Hi Hi Hi/Cmoon", McCartney would start doing things seriously again after the trial phase with his Wings and aim to become one of the greatest rock stars of the '70s.