Little Lamb Dragonfly
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@b-j-conlee
Me too! Love it. So wish he would do this live. I’m not sure that he ever has 🧐 -
John Mackintosh wrote:
I have been listening to this song recently, on both RRS as well as the "work up" track from the bonus on the RRS deluxe edition from 2018. An article that came out June in the Guardian for his 80th birthday rated the song 15th out of what the author sees as his best 30 post-Fabs songs. Writer of the article, Alexis Petridis, says it is "one of the loviest melodies McCartney has ever written." Superlatives follow-"utterly gorgeous, inexplicably moving. " Wikipedia has someone callling it "haunting." I have been a fan since the late 1960s and I recall when this song came I was baffled by the lyrics but found the melody beautiful but at the same time conveying the emotion of sadness, unlike most of his songs.
I have never considered the lyrics the strong point either and Paul did not include it in his Lyrics book from last November.
So what in the heck does this song mean to you? I regret he didn't include it in his Working Classical CD from 1999 and would love to hear that melody with full orchestra
Agree 100% John. Little Lamb Dragonfly along with Single Pidgeon are 2 of Paul's greatest Deep Cuts in Paul's Discography. The problem with the original Red Rose Speedway was the 2nd half. It should have been what Paul wanted all along...a Double Album. Paul had so many up-tempo and Rock oriented songs that were missing from the original RRS.
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John Mackintosh wrote:
I have been listening to this song recently, on both RRS as well as the "work up" track from the bonus on the RRS deluxe edition from 2018. An article that came out June in the Guardian for his 80th birthday rated the song 15th out of what the author sees as his best 30 post-Fabs songs. Writer of the article, Alexis Petridis, says it is "one of the loviest melodies McCartney has ever written." Superlatives follow-"utterly gorgeous, inexplicably moving. " Wikipedia has someone callling it "haunting." I have been a fan since the late 1960s and I recall when this song came I was baffled by the lyrics but found the melody beautiful but at the same time conveying the emotion of sadness, unlike most of his songs.
I have never considered the lyrics the strong point either and Paul did not include it in his Lyrics book from last November.
So what in the heck does this song mean to you? I regret he didn't include it in his Working Classical CD from 1999 and would love to hear that melody with full orchestra
Little Lamb Dragonfly is probably my favorite song by Paul, I love it. It's beautiful, but in a haunting kind of way, as you mentioned. Happy but with a melancholy tinge. It makes me think of the countryside, and I think has a little bit of a Celtic feel to it too.
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B J Conlee wrote:
John Mackintosh wrote:
I have been listening to this song recently, on both RRS as well as the "work up" track from the bonus on the RRS deluxe edition from 2018. An article that came out June in the Guardian for his 80th birthday rated the song 15th out of what the author sees as his best 30 post-Fabs songs. Writer of the article, Alexis Petridis, says it is "one of the loviest melodies McCartney has ever written." Superlatives follow-"utterly gorgeous, inexplicably moving. " Wikipedia has someone callling it "haunting." I have been a fan since the late 1960s and I recall when this song came I was baffled by the lyrics but found the melody beautiful but at the same time conveying the emotion of sadness, unlike most of his songs.
I have never considered the lyrics the strong point either and Paul did not include it in his Lyrics book from last November.
So what in the heck does this song mean to you? I regret he didn't include it in his Working Classical CD from 1999 and would love to hear that melody with full orchestra
Agree 100% John. Little Lamb Dragonfly along with Single Pidgeon are 2 of Paul's greatest Deep Cuts in Paul's Discography. The problem with the original Red Rose Speedway was the 2nd half. It should have been what Paul wanted all along...a Double Album. Paul had so many up-tempo and Rock oriented songs that were missing from the original RRS.
I agree, especially after getting the deluxe version of RRS, something I had held off doing until just this summer as I have mainly purchased the two disc versions. It does work much better on the double album, as do all the other songs.
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McCall wrote:
John Mackintosh wrote:
I have been listening to this song recently, on both RRS as well as the "work up" track from the bonus on the RRS deluxe edition from 2018. An article that came out June in the Guardian for his 80th birthday rated the song 15th out of what the author sees as his best 30 post-Fabs songs. Writer of the article, Alexis Petridis, says it is "one of the loviest melodies McCartney has ever written." Superlatives follow-"utterly gorgeous, inexplicably moving. " Wikipedia has someone callling it "haunting." I have been a fan since the late 1960s and I recall when this song came I was baffled by the lyrics but found the melody beautiful but at the same time conveying the emotion of sadness, unlike most of his songs.
I have never considered the lyrics the strong point either and Paul did not include it in his Lyrics book from last November.
So what in the heck does this song mean to you? I regret he didn't include it in his Working Classical CD from 1999 and would love to hear that melody with full orchestra
Little Lamb Dragonfly is probably my favorite song by Paul, I love it. It's beautiful, but in a haunting kind of way, as you mentioned. Happy but with a melancholy tinge. It makes me think of the countryside, and I think has a little bit of a Celtic feel to it too.
I, too, love that Celtic feel,
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This is a song that just gets better with age. A classic.
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I guess I am still the dissenter here. I've always considered Little Lamb Dragonfly to be an honorable near-miss. Yes, the melody is lovely, and the lyrics are okay. But the performance and arrangement always felt awkward and a bit forced to me. Paul's occasionally semi-operatic vocal feels forced to me, and the backing vocals are clunky. I do like it better than a lot of RRS (except Single Pigeon, which is perfect), but that's not saying a lot.
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@b-j-conlee Little Lamb Dragonfly is one of Paul's lambs on his farm in Scotland. His children named it Dragonfly. Kids eh!
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@wandy said in Little Lamb Dragonfly:
@b-j-conlee Little Lamb Dragonfly is one of Paul's lambs on his farm in Scotland. His children named it Dragonfly. Kids eh!
Not what I ever heard,
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@njr I also read that "Jet" was the name of Linda's pony. I wish I could remember where I read this stuff, problem is if you're a fan you read every article that comes you're way, over many many year's, and it kinda sorta all blends into one long article. But writing songs about trivial things, lambs, horses, dogs, ( Martha My Dear ) and vehicles ( Helen Wheels) is definitely the kind of thing Paul likes to do, and is the master of doing it. It seems the smallest thing ( but to him important) seems to inspire him. I don't ever read or recall John Lennon writing this way. John seems to need deep and meaningful subjects.
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@wandy said in Little Lamb Dragonfly:
@njr I also read that "Jet" was the name of Linda's pony. I wish I could remember where I read this stuff, problem is if you're a fan you read every article that comes you're way, over many many year's, and it kinda sorta all blends into one long article. But writing songs about trivial things, lambs, horses, dogs, ( Martha My Dear ) and vehicles ( Helen Wheels) is definitely the kind of thing Paul likes to do, and is the master of doing it. It seems the smallest thing ( but to him important) seems to inspire him. I don't ever read or recall John Lennon writing this way. John seems to need deep and meaningful subjects.
And I’ve always heard/read that Jet was one of his dogs.
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@njr It did say in the link that it was a pony. Just saying like. There is a picture in the book "Abbey Road", I have a hard back copy, of Linda walking her pony ( Jet) across the Abbey Road crossing, outside the studios.
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@oobu24 That's the one. Jet!!! Whoooooo Jet! Whoooooooo. I can almost remember their funny faces that time you you told them that you walked across the Abbey Road crossing. And Jet I thought the only lonely place......
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@wandy said in Little Lamb Dragonfly:
@njr It did say in the link that it was a pony. Just saying like. There is a picture in the book "Abbey Road", I have a hard back copy, of Linda walking her pony ( Jet) across the Abbey Road crossing, outside the studios.
Maybe they had a pony AND a dog both named Jet!
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@njr Yes could be. Might have been a bit confusing though in conversation about the animals. Paul. ::::Scouser accent::::"Hey Lin! fab gear fab gear! Watarya talkin bout loove, the horse or the dog? Fab gear".
Linda. "Ah yer daft get! I'm talkin bout the horse! Yacant ride a dog!! Ya gorra stop smoking those foony ciggies ya get from Magic Alex" -
Maybe he mixes up all his old stories!
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Well the old chap is 80.
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