The silliest love songs written by Paul McCartney
“You’d think that people would’ve had enough of silly love songs,” Paul McCartney sings on one of Wings’ signature hits, “But I look around me and I see it isn’t so.” Almost half a century later, people still haven’t quite tired of the Beatles’ bassist’s silly love songs, allowing themselves instead to lean into his more cutesy and cringeworthy lyrics to revel in the admirable uncoolness of sharing your feelings over equally lovey-dovey instrumentation.
The most obvious example of a silly love song in McCartney’s catalogue is, of course, the aptly titled and aforementioned ‘Silly Love Songs’ by Wings. Released in 1976, the bouncy, saxophone-laden track leans entirely into soppy passion with repeated declarations of “I love you” as McCartney knowingly pokes fun at his own penchant for love songs. “Love isn’t silly at all,” he declares.
But ‘Silly Love Songs’ might never have come to fruition if McCartney hadn’t been penning sentimental tales of romance for decades prior. The idea for the song would never have planted itself in McCartney’s head if he hadn’t been subject to ridicule by music journalists and bandmates alike for penning such silly love songs, prompting him to hit back with — you guessed it — yet another silly love song.
In fact, the Beatles lyricist has sprinkled silly love songs throughout his entire songwriting career, from his days with the Fab Four to his solo writing to his work with Wings. From ‘Drive My Car’ to ‘Honey Pie’ to ‘My Love’, we’ve collated a selection of McCartney’s silliest, soppiest love songs below.
Paul McCartney’s silliest love songs:
‘Silly Love Songs’ – Wings
‘Silly Love Songs’, perhaps expectedly, takes the first spot on the list. It’s only fair, given that the song completely embodies its premise. The song appeared on McCartney’s fifth album leading Wings, Wings at the Speed of Sound, in 1976, and has since become a staple in the band’s catalogue. It’s also characteristic of McCartney, at once leaning into the lovey-dovey nature of his lyrics and acknowledging their silliness.
Over guitar twangs and funky soundscapes, McCartney grapples with his difficulties explaining his emotions towards this person. “How can I tell you about my loved one?” he asks over, “I can’t explain, the feeling’s plain to me, say, can’t you see?” Somehow, in the process, he captures his emotions perfectly. Some people, namely McCartney, want to fill the world with silly love songs – and what’s wrong with that?
‘My Love’ – Paul McCartney and Wings
Just a couple of years before he poked fun at himself with ‘Silly Love Songs’, McCartney had penned a soppy track called ‘My Love’ that featured on the band’s second record, Red Rose Speedway. Like many of his love songs, it was penned with Linda McCartney in mind, who joined him on backing vocals for the Wings recording of the track.
The track is exactly the kind of song that McCartney’s peers would have seen as one of his silly love songs, with strings and soaring vocals that mirror the elation of passion. The song rests on the line “My love does it good,” which McCartney uses to close almost every verse. “Don’t ever ask me why I never say goodbye to my love,” he sings in one verse, “It’s understood, it’s everywhere with my love, and my love does it good.”
It’s simple and sweet, which some might shrug off as silly, but it’s also palpably heartfelt.
‘Drive My Car’ – The Beatles
McCartney often pushed into tales of love during his time with the Beatles, and one of his silliest efforts came in 1965 with ‘Drive My Car’. Appearing on the Fab Four’s sixth record, Rubber Soul, the track wasn’t necessarily as soppy or sweet as some of McCartney’s efforts. It was silly in a different way, detailing the story of a woman who just might love him if he takes on the role of her chauffeur.
“Baby you can drive my car, yes I’m gonna be a star,” McCartney sings with his partner-in-songwriting John Lennon over-indulgent piano chords in the chorus, “Baby you can drive my car, and maybe I’ll love you.” A light-hearted tale of romance in the face of stardom, ‘Drive My Car’ is another of McCartney’s sillier depictions of loving.
‘Honey Pie’ – The Beatles
McCartney has described ‘Honey Pie’ as another one of his “fantasy songs,” telling Barry Miles in Many Years From Now that the crooners of music hall inspired the song. “‘Honey Pie’ was me writing one of them to an imaginary woman,” he explained, “cross the ocean, on the silver screen, who was called Honey Pie.”
This fantastical, music hall-inspired inception of the song certainly comes across in the final product, which is strange and surreal. Over a bouncy instrumental and some strange vocal deliveries, McCartney sings of Honey Pie, a girl who makes him feel crazy but who he cannot bring himself to visit due to his laziness. “Oh honey pie, my position is tragic,” he sings, “Come and show me the magic of your Hollywood song.”
‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’ – The Beatles
The truly ridiculous 1968 Beatles track ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’ might not be considered a classic love song, but it does deal with sex. McCartney told Terry Gross at NPR that the strange song was inspired by “Lord knows what. Probably sexual feelings,” a muse that you could probably guess from the title alone.
Even if you don’t consider ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’ to be a love song, it’s certainly one of McCartney’s silliest. For just under two minutes, he repeatedly asks the title question, proclaiming, “No one will be watching us.” His vocals are a little silly, almost rock and roll cowboy-esque, while the pianos and claps beneath him add to the absurdity of the song.