Friday Jam: “Love is Strange” by Paul McCartney and Wings

As I mentioned in my last post, I plan on eventually using this blog to explore the connection between faith and art. To set the stage or mood for that project, I thought it might be fun to start sharing music with you on a regular basis. Why not on Fridays? Why not call it a “Friday Jam”? It’s on the nose, maybe  cliche, but it’s clear and direct.

This inaugural FJ (transformed into an acronym already? Sheesh…) comes to you courtesy of Wings first album, 1971’s Wild Life. It’s probably not the BEST album Paul McCartney made with Wings, but it’s certainly overlooked and underrated. I think it’s accurate to thing of this album as sort of a proto lo-fi, indie rock album. It was quite a turn from the refined, take-heavy studio work of the Beatles. Wild Life sounds like it was recorded by a bunch of friends hanging out in a home studio one weekend. I consider “Love is Strange” the stand-out track on the album. The song, originally written by Ethel Smith, Mickey Baker, and Sylvia Robinson, is so sweet and relaxed that it’s been accused by critics of being “cloying”.

I beg to differ. I think the sweet, relaxed feeling of the album reflects where Paul was emotionally at the time. Sure, the Beatles are over and a new phase of life had begun – but there was so much love between Paul and Linda that Paul makes the transition seem placid. This album, and this song in particular, is really just a celebration of domestic bliss, and the slow, easy, and relaxed songs are a testament to marriage. “Many people, they don’t understand / They think having love is like having money in the hand.”