The “strangest of happenings” can be heard on the Paul McCartney song, Let ‘Em In, according to the songwriter.
The Beatles and Wings member would write the song for Wings at the Speed of Sound, which was released in 1976. McCartney suggested there was a happenstance connection with his future wife, Nancy Shevell, to be found in the song he wrote when he was married to Linda McCartney. Linda was a member of Wings and collaborated with Paul McCartney on albums like Ram and Band on the Run. She died of breast cancer on April 17, 1998. McCartney noted the “coincidence” heard on Let ‘Em In in his book, The Lyrics. In it, The Beatles member breaks down all of his songs in alphabetical order, with particular detail shared on his Wings at the Speed of Sound song.
McCartney still performs Let ‘Em In during his live shows, with his recent setlists in Manchester and London featuring the song. Writing of the song, McCartney still seems very fond of it and the “coincidence” which now features on his hit track.
The Wings frontman broke down who was mentioned in the song, with famous figures including John Lennon and Michael Jackson seemingly noted in the track’s lyrics. McCartney shared: “When we were in Jamaica, all the Jamaican guys would say to Linda, being blonde, ‘Hey Suzy!’ To them a blonde, white woman was “Suzy”.
“So Linda got a group and called herself Suzy and the Red Stripes, after the beer brand. So ‘Sister Suzy’ – that’s Linda. ‘Brother John’ is either her brother, John Eastman, or John Lennon, ‘Martin Luther’ is Martin Luther King Jr., ‘Phil and Don’ are The Everly Brothers, and then you get ‘Brother Michael.”
The songwriter has since suggested “Brother Michael” could either mean his younger brother, Mike McCartney, or Michael Jackson. The latter could be likely as the “timing is right” according to Paul McCartney.
He shared: “We’d invited The Jackson Five to the Venus and Mars album party on the Queen Mary the year before. ‘Auntie Jin’, which is spelt with a J rather than a G because her name was Jane. But in Liverpool that sounded too formal, so she would say ‘just call me Jinny’. Then ‘Uncle Ernie’ – my cousin’s name was actually Ian, but they called him Ern. And by this point, I’m not really fused, I’m just playing with words.”
But the people featured in the song have since changed, according to McCartney, thanks to his marriage to Nancy Shevell. He wrote: “Then the strangest of strange happenings: fast-forward a million years and I marry Nancy Shevell, whose sister is named Susie and whose brother is named Jon. So, suddenly I’m singing about Nancy’s family: ‘Sister Suzy, Brother John’. It’s quite a coincidence.”
McCartney has also suggested he was “not aware” Martin Luther King Jr. was mentioned in the song, attributing the name drop to “the collective unconsciousness”. He added: “It definitely does happen that songs can come from some mysterious place. Much of the time, if you’re lucky, the words and music come together.”
