

That’s replaced by brewing intensity and whips of darkness, and as the song builds to its climax, Kozelek becomes more and more impassioned with staying firmly detached from any of the light breeziness that McCartney brought to all of his music. When the song’s chorus comes, there’s none of the jubilance or goofiness from McCartney’s signature bray. Or rather, the song’s lyrics, imposed over a melody that somewhat resembles the original, if it was slowed to half speed and kept in a dank hole for a few years.
PAUL MCCARTNEY SILLY LOVE SONGS FULL
It takes almost five full minutes of guitar interplay before Kozelek enters with the song’s melody. Think Crazy Horse doing a 20-minute live rendition of ‘Cortez the Killer’: that’s the closest comparison that can be made to this version. All that’s left is the song’s chord progression and a barebones skeleton from which the band unload a series of scuzzy riffs. No bouncy bass line, no chintzy string section, and no vibrant McCartney vocal performance. Their take on ‘Silly Love Songs’ removes pretty much everything recognisable from Wings’ original recording. The band act as a precursor of sorts to lead singer Mark Kozelek’s later project Sun Kil Moon, but instead of the tender acoustic folk numbers that make up the latter’s discography, the Painters cranked up the volume and jammed for long stretches. Red House Painters were an American rock band who specialised in slow-churning fuzzy rock and roll. That makes the song ripe for rediscovery and, more importantly, reinterpretation. Combined with the notion of Wings going disco, ‘Silly Love Songs’ was a bit too much for the McCartney faithful, and McCartney himself hasn’t performed the song since going solo in 1980. Despite hitting number one in America and basking in its own winking self-mockery, many took McCartney’s peddling of schlocky ballads at face value.

‘Silly Love Songs’ is not among McCartney’s most critically acclaimed songs.
