‘The Note You Never Wrote’ is the second song on Wings’ fifth album Wings At The Speed Of Sound.
It features lead vocals by Denny Laine, for whom the song was written by Paul McCartney.
It turned out less of a McCartney production and more of a Wings effort. It wasn’t intended like that. There was one of the songs that I had sung but I just let Joe, our drummer, sing it because he’s got a very nice voice, and he sang it great. Denny is a natural for a couple of tracks because he is, after all, a lead vocalist. So I wrote one track for him, which I called ‘The Note You Never Wrote’ and he wrote one track himself, ‘Time To Hide’.
Paul McCartney
The Beatles – The Dream Is Over: Off The Record 2, Keith Badman
The Beatles – The Dream Is Over: Off The Record 2, Keith Badman
‘The Note You Never Wrote’ was the first song recorded for Wings At The Speed Of Sound. The basic track was taped in two takes at Abbey Road on 14 October 1975.
The lead guitarist is Jimmy McCulloch – not to be confused with Henry McCullough – and his solo is quite amazing. A little reminiscent of Dave Gilmour. The arrangement as a whole is kind of dreamy and Floydian. It’s what we call a ‘Floydian slip’.
Paul McCartney
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present
The Lyrics: 1956 To The Present
The orchestra, arranged by Fiachra Trench, was recorded at Abbey Road on 13 February 1976. The players were members of the Gabrieli String Quartet, who also worked on McCartney’s albums Tug Of War and Give My Regards To Broad Street.
It’s very much in the vein of [The Moody Blues’] ‘Go Now’ and it’s in the same waltz tempo [sic]. I’m sure Paul was influenced by ‘Go Now’ when he wrote ‘The Note You Never Wrote’ for me to sing. I love the song because it’s a kind of folk, it’s almost a political thing. It’s not too heavy, but it’s like a statement, like a protest song.
Denny Laine
Wings At The Speed Of Sound deluxe edition, 2014
Wings At The Speed Of Sound deluxe edition, 2014
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Just a short song but for me it was an album highlight. It can be interpreted as the emotions felt when experiencing unrequited love (something I was experiencing at the time of this album’s release). Irrational anger towards the woman who never wrote the note. It’s done here as a dream with “chapters”. Very creatively produced and performed.