Women And Wives

Here, Paul McCartney gives some sage advice to "women and wives" and "husbands and lovers," urging them to consider how they live their lives as the younger members of their families will follow their example.

McCartney wrote the song in Los Angeles after reading a book on the blues pioneer Lead Belly. He recalled to Uncut magazine: "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 this song. 'Hear me, husband and lovers. What we do, 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."

Speaking to The Sun, McCartney compared "Women And Wives" to the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song "Teach Your Children" sung "in the emphatic tones" of Lead Belly. "I was in a good but bluesy mood," he said. "I'd been reading about Lead Belly so I was doing that 'I've got the bluuueeesss' style."