WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
A track-by-track look Paul & Linda McCartney’s Ram.
TOO MANY PEOPLE
An unyielding opening salvo driven by a punchy rhythm track that embodies the spite that begot the song’s lyrics, which are aimed directly at John Lennon: ‘You took your lucky break, and broke it in two.’ A fiery guitar solo leads the track to a crashing climax.
3 LEGS
Reportedly inspired by a drawing of a limbless dog made by his eight-year-old daughter Heather, this pleasing acoustic blues number seems to unveil itself as a further dig at The Beatles (‘I thought you was my friend,’ McCartney bemoans, ‘but you let me down/ Put my heart around the bend’), although ironically is one Lennon later professed to liking.
RAM ON
A short and sweet moment of introspective contemplation, led by the gentle strumming of a ukulele. “I just think there’s more heart and soul in that than anything,” offers Dixon Van Winkle. “We were in the studio late, there was nobody else around, and he came out with this beautiful song.”
DEAR BOY
“Dear Boy was almost harking back to Noel Coward,” says McCartney. “You know, that sort of English, posh music-hall, whatever you’d call it.” Underpinned by an enlivened piano pulse, the track is dominated by a symphony of voices that construes a Vaudevillian influence. “Yeah, it’s all of those things that you could actually hear as a sort of thirties jazz piece almost, if you just changed the instrumentation,” he adds.
UNCLE ALBERT/ ADMIRAL HALSEY
A song – as its title suggests – of two halves. Uncle Albert finds McCartney in a ruminative mood, extending an apology to the disapproving older generation for the societal changes the 60s had ushered in, with glorious backing from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Admiral Halsey, meanwhile, kicks up a gear to incite new adventures, its urging us to ‘live a little’ being played out in its playful score.
SMILE AWAY
At first a fuzzy slice of swinging rockabilly that serves as a harbinger of glam-rock, but there’s a seething antipathy that eventually bubbles out of Smile Away. “Paul used to do this thing,” drummer Denny Seiwell reveals, “where you smile away with your mouth but your eyes glare at you like you really hate the guy.”
HEART OF THE COUNTRY
A jazzy and mellifluous unplugged ode to life in the sticks, notable also for Denny Seiwell’s creative percussion, forsaking his drums for ‘found’ sounds including trash cans and sheets of metal, which he would hit. “If you go back and listen to it, it sounds really good,” he says with a laugh.
MONKBERRY MOON DELIGHT
Another song inspired by the fervent imaginations of his kids, this one is a carnivalesque rocker in which McCartney’s surrealistic wordplay is delivered in his inimitable gravelly fortissimo voice (as previously heard on the likes of The Beatles’ Oh! Darling), and countered by Linda’s pacifying backing vocals.
EAT AT HOME
Taking its cue from Paul’s beloved Buddy Holly, Eat At Home is a cheeky chunk of vintage rock‘n’roll that champions domestic pleasures, with Paul’s ‘let’s eat in bed’ open to interpretation.
LONG HAIRED LADY
The perfect embodiment of his wife’s ebullient spirit and his indebtedness to it, Paul’s dedication to Linda is dazzling and delightful, skipping gaily from sensual exaltation to joyful praise, culminating with the quixotically anthemic “love is long” mantra.
RAM ON (REPRISE)
A book-ending follow-up to the earlier version.
THE BACK SEAT OF MY CAR
Submitted to The Beatles by McCartney in 1969, it would take almost two years for The Back Seat Of My Car to evolve into the elaborate and intrepid feat that is Ram’s epic finale. Instilled with the promise of freedom that a car brings, it builds and builds through brass fanfares to an exhilarating conclusion that encapsulates all the hope, courage and determination undertaken by Paul and Linda in their own pursuit of emancipation as they chant, over and over, as if to reinforce their convictions as they endeavor onwards: ‘We believe that we can’t be wrong’.