"Deliver Your Children" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Wings | ||||
from the album London Town | ||||
A-side | " I've Had Enough" | |||
Released | 16 June 1978 | |||
Recorded | May 1977 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Label |
Parlophone/
EMI (UK) Capitol (US) | |||
Songwriter(s) |
Denny Laine Paul McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Wings singles chronology | ||||
|
"Deliver Your Children" is a song written by Denny Laine and Paul McCartney that was first issued on Wings' 1978 album London Town. It was also released as the B-side of Wings' single " I've Had Enough". In the Netherlands, it received enough airplay to be ranked on the national charts along with its A-side, and joint single reached No. 13. [1] On some charts within the Netherlands "Deliver Your Children" was ranked alone on the single charts, and it reached No. 9 on the Stichting Nederlandse Top 40 chart. [2] Laine also released solo recordings of the song. [3]
Laine wrote most of the song himself and McCartney helped him complete it. [4] [5] It was originally written during the Venus and Mars sessions in 1975. [5] [6] Laine's original title for the song was "Feel the Love," despite the fact that the song lyrics do not contain the phrase, but McCartney suggested the revised title. [7] [8] It was recorded on the yacht Fair Carol in the Virgin Islands in May 1977; at the time Linda McCartney was pregnant with her and Paul's fourth child, James. [6] Laine sings the lead vocal and both Laine and McCartney play acoustic guitar. [9] Laine also plays the Spanish guitar solos. [10] McCartney also plays bass guitar, and both he and Linda McCartney provide backing vocals. [5]
"Deliver Your Children" is an uptempo song. [5] Music professor Vincent Benitez and Beatles biographer Robert Rodriguez describe it as being " folksy." [7] [9] It is one of two songs on London Town primarily written by Laine with children as its theme. [7] The verses describe a variety of unlucky experiences the singer has had, including getting caught in a rain storm, dealing with an unfaithful lover, and dealing with an unscrupulous repairman who can't fix his truck. [7] [9] Both Benitez and McCartney biographer John Blaney describe the verses as "rambling." [5] [9] The refrain contrasts by exhorting the listener to deliver the children to the good life and make things right for them. [7] [9]
According to Benitez, the song sounds as if it is in the key of A minor but the guitars are actually played in the key of D minor with a capo on the seventh fret. [9] Actually, the verses are neither in a major or a minor key, but in a Dorian mode, which emphasizes their harsh imagery. [9] The first two verses, the guitar solo near the end and the outro are in D-Dorian, while the last verses are in G-Dorian. [9] The refrain is in C major, contrasting the verses and emphasizing its more hopeful lyrics. [9]
Rolling Stone Magazine critic Janet Maslin described "Deliver Your Children" as "wonderful" and one of the best songs on London Town. [11] Rodriguez regards it as the best of McCartney's and Laine's collaborations. [7] Beatle biographers Roy Carr and Tony Tyler described it as "minor key Nashville chunkachuck" displaying "superior craftmanship." [12] Music critic Joel McNally regards it as a "good" song, describing it as "an upbeat number that dares to use some acoustic guitars in an electronic age. [13] Author Giuseppe Rausa regards "Deliver Your Children" as one of the few memorable songs on London Town, describing it as a pleasant, quick, country music-like song. [14]