The studio version of the song featured on Wings’ 1971 album ‘Wild Life’
Paul McCartney has shared a previously unreleased home-recorded demo of his John Lennon-inspired song, ‘Dear Friend’.
The track featured on Wings‘ 1971 album ‘Wild Life’, which will be given a remastered reissue on December 7. The new edition of the record will feature rough mixes, home recordings, b-sides, a DVD of rare footage, and more.
Speaking about the song, which you can listen to below, McCartney said: “With ‘Dear Friend’, that’s sort of me talking to John after we’d had all the sort of disputes about The Beatles break up. I find it very emotional when I listen to it now. I have to sort of choke it back. I remember when I heard the song recently, listening to the roughs [versions of the remasterings] in the car.
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“And I thought, ‘Oh God’. That lyric: ‘Really truly, young and newly wed’. Listening to that was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s true!’ I’m trying to say to John, ‘Look, you know, it’s all cool. Have a glass of wine. Let’s be cool.’”
He added that he was thankful the pair reconciled before Lennon’s death in 1980 because “it would have been terrible if he’d been killed as things were at that point and I’d never got to straighten it out with him.” McCartney described ‘Dear Friend’ as him “reaching out” to his former bandmate.
The Beatles icon released his latest solo album earlier this year in ‘Egypt Station‘. In a four-star review, NME said: “McCartney’s always been about inclusivity and openness, but this latest glimpse into his life feels like a particularly enlightening one.”
Meanwhile, he recently shared that Lennon had fears over the way he would be remembered. “I remember him once particularly strangely, out of the blue, saying, ‘I worry about how people are going to remember me,’” McCartney said. “And I was like, ‘John listen to me, look at me. You’re going to be remembered as one of the greatest people.’”
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