10 Perfect Songs On Terrible Albums
4. Dear Friend - Wings
In Paul McCartney's own words, he didn't really know how to be in a band after the Beatles. Being heartbroken by losing some of his best friends as part of the Fab Four, the first few years of Macca's solo career was him trying to move on by making solo outfits with his wife Linda. When he finally assembled a band together with Wings, they were still clearly working through the bugs on Wild Life.
Going through most of this album, it feels more like a jam session than a proper record, with two songs on the first side being nothing but the band just riffing for a few minutes. Despite having a full band at his disposal this time around, Paul did have his former bandmates on his mind, and Dear Friend was his first attempt to build bridges with his former writing partner. After slinging mud at John Lennon on Too Many People and Lennon hurling some back on How Do You Sleep, Dear Friend is Paul's acceptance that they've both just reached different points in their lives and won't be available for each other like they did back in the day.
It isn't all doom and gloom though, as Paul closes things out saying that they've found love elsewhere in their lives and that will help keep them afloat even when things seem rough. Paul never wanted to hurt any of his best friends, and hearing this song was probably the first time that both the Fabs and fans started to heal a little bit.