A song featured on the latest Paul McCartney album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane, could be about his first wife, Linda McCartney.
Linda McCartney, who featured as a member of McCartney’s band Wings and also as a collaborator on The Beatles member’s second solo album, Ram, died in 1998 at the age of 56. Fans believe one of the songs featured on The Boys of Dungeon Lane, We Two, is about his late wife. Listeners took to the r/PaulMcCartney subreddit and shared their thoughts on what the meaning of the song could be. While some are convinced Linda McCartney is the muse for the track, others believe it’s McCartney’s former bandmate, John Lennon, that is the focus of the song.
One fan wrote: “Is We Two about Linda? It’s such a touching love song. I’m wondering if it’s about Linda. I think somebody said it was, but I’m looking for the source where Paul said that. I love this song, and I think it’s very touching if it is about Linda.” Other listeners believe the theory could hold weight but suggested a different muse for the track.
Another fan replied: “Potentially, it could also be about John. A lot of the lyrics mirror his song Tug of War which was about John. Especially the idea that together they are stronger and looking at all they could accomplish if they work side by side.
“Aside from a few songs like Down South, Too Many People, Here Today, Calico Skies, or My Valentine, the beauty of a lot of Paul’s songs is that they are quite open lyrically, and can be applicable to a lot of different things or relationships. Look at This One. It could be about John or Linda, same with Hey Jude being about Julian [Lennon] or John.”
A third listener believes the beauty of McCartney’s songs is in not knowing who the subject is. They shared: “That is the beauty and magic of Paul’s songs. Everyone can identify with them, they feel so personal, like he knows you. I really think that this is because he writes from his own feelings; his songs are more autobiographical than most people realise. If you look back at the songs he wrote at a particular time in his life, you can make connections.
“His whole love affair with Jane Asher in the ’60s is written in his songs, starting with And I Love Her, All My Loving, then disagreements in We Can Work It Out, a more mature love in Here, There, and Everywhere, then the relationship starts unravelling, You Won’t See Me, I’m Looking Through You. The relationship ending, For No One.
“They still stayed together for about a year and a half after he wrote FNO, but he wrote that song when they went on holiday, and it was observed that they were not as cosy as they usually were. Anyway, his genius is that he can make those personal songs so they are applicable to interpretation by anyone going through a similar situation.
“Although sometimes he can make you feel a deep emotion with just music, like the song Junk, I find it more moving when playing the sing-along version without the words. Pure genius! So, I think We Two is about both Linda and John, he rarely sticks to one subject when writing about his personal relationships.”
In an interview to promote The Boys of Dungeon Lane, McCartney would share what the L.I.L.Y. inscription on the front of the Ram album cover stands for. McCartney told Chicken Shop Date host Amelia Dimoldenberg that he was inspired by Aristotle Onassis, who gave his wife, the former first lady of the US, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a bracelet with J.I.L.Y. engraved into it. It reads out “Jackie, I Love You.”
McCartney explained: “I suddenly thought, perfect, get Linda one and it’ll be L-I-L-Y, ‘ Linda. I love you’, Lily. It’s the perfect name to do that with. She’s a lovely girl.”
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
