Words of Love and No Words (haha, again, yeah) and unexplained bossy modes
This [Words of Love] isn’t ours. It’s an old Buddy Holly speciality which we used to do again at The Cavern. There was a fabulous guitar bit on the Holly disc, sounding almost like bells. George took the same riff and double-tracked it, and sounds just as good.
(Paul McCartney, Disc, 14 November 1964)
No doubt ATV, and perhaps Chevrolet, insisted that Paul acknowledge his Beatle past in the program. But there was another reason Paul happily played these tunes. As he knew from his discussion with Lennon in November [1972], Allen Klein’s contract with Apple was due to expire on March 31 [1973], and sentiment among the former Beatles leaned toward not renewing it. By the time James Paul McCartney aired, on April 16 in the United States, and May 10 in Great Britain, Klein would be gone. For anyone seeking between-the-lines messages—and Klein would certainly be among them—the one Paul was sending here was clear and unequivocal. <…> John declined to discuss the reasons for the split with Klein<…> Asked whether the Beatles were better off, post-Klein, than the Rolling Stones—who had lost both their publishing and master tapes to the manager—John offered an analysis that Paul could only have read as a long-belated vindication. “Due to the presence of Lee Eastman looking over Paul’s shoulder all the time—and therefore looking over Klein’s shoulder—[Klein’s] movements were hampered. We can now be thankful for that situation. We knew it was beneficial all the time playing one off against the other, and eventually we ended up here.” <…> Elsewhere, John made an even fuller concession to the arguments Paul had made all through 1969. “Well, there are many reasons to get finally given the push,” he said of his abandonment of Klein as his manager. “Let’s say that possibly Paul’s suspicions were right.” <...> …Lennon, Harrison, Starr and Apple countersued Klein, at the High Court in London, claiming damages for misrepresentation. Harrison provided the perfect mood music in his song ‘Sue Me, Sue You Blues.’ For Paul, the suit against Klein could not have been richer: Lennon and company were now arguing that their May 1969 contract with Klein—the contract they tried to strong-arm Paul into signing at Olympic Studios—should be considered invalid “because they did not understand the nature and effect of it.”
(Denny Laine in The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-1973 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2022)
Hold me close and tell me how you feel Tell me love is real Words of love you whisper soft and true Darling, I love you
(Words of Love, 1957/1964)
I wish you knew, that's just how true My love was
(No Words, 1973)
‘No Words,’ for example, was two songs that became one song. I wrote the first few verses and couldn’t get any further. I took them to Paul, and he added his little bit of magic.”
(Denny Laine in The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-1973 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2022)
You say that love is everything And what we need the most of
(No Words, 1973)
And I know, I’ve read cracks about, “Oh, the Beatles sang ‘All You Need Is Love’, but it didn’t work for them,” but nothing will ever break the love we have for each other. And I still believe all you need is love.
(John Lennon, January 23rd, 1972, interview with DJ Howard Smith)
Hey, you've got to hide your love away
(Hey, You've Got To Hide Your Love Away, 1965)
I've got a feeling, a feeling deep inside Oh yeah, oh yeah, that's right I've got a feeling, a feeling I can't hide
(I've Got A Feeling, 1969)
Don't you know that inside There's a love you can't hide So why do you fight that feeling in your heart?
(Lazy Dynamite, 1971/73)
You're burning love, sweet burning love It's deep inside, You mustn't hide, your burning love Sweet burning love, your burning love
(No Words, 1973)
Let me hear you say the words I long to hear Darling, when you're near Words of love you whisper soft and true Darling, I love you
(Words of Love, 1957/1964)
You want to turn your head away And someone's thinking of you I wish you'd see, it's only me, I love you
(No Words, 1973)
We were once having a right slagging session and I remember how he took off his granny glasses. I can still see him. He put them down and said, ‘It’s only me, Paul.’ Then he put them back on again, and we continued slagging…That phrase keeps coming back to me all the time. ‘It’s only me.’ It’s became a mantra in my mind.
(Paul McCartney, May 3, 1981 with Hunter Davies)
Denny’s ‘No Words,’ a song about a romance going through a rough patch, moves like a George Harrison tune. Its melody, like many of Harrison’s, begins cheerily but quickly takes an unexpected turn toward the lachrymose, with phrases that sound as if they are in minor keys, even when the accompanying chords are major. The opening line, for example, is a gently rising melody over an A major chord; but a sudden drop from C sharp to G, transforming the accompanying chord into an A7, gives the melody a dark, thoroughly Harrisonian lilt.
(The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-1973 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2022)
Wings’ rehearsals [on August 14, 1973] had their ups and downs, as rehearsals do. But from McCullough’s point of view, a lot of it was the ‘My Love’ session all over again, except without Paul relenting and letting him try out his own ideas. During a rehearsal of ‘No Words,’ on August 14, Paul was intent on Henry playing the solo he had mapped out. Henry had an idea of his own that he wanted to try, but Paul was not having it. <…> …for Henry [McCullough], it was hard to see Paul’s refusal as reasonable.
(The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1: 1969-1973 by Allan Kozinn and Adrian Sinclair, 2022)
+this quote from Man on the Run
