Review: The Long and Winding Road

The Long and Winding Road is a Paul McCartney composition that Beatles fans either love or hate. Some find its mushy melodies stomach turning and its lyrics sentimental trite. McCartney himself was outraged by producer Phil Spector's treatment of his song and nine days after hearing it, the Beatles broke-up for good. Just how long and winding is this tune?

You left me standing here a long, long time go

The Long and Winding Road lyrics took their inspiration from the growing friction between the fabulous four. McCartney composed it at his farm in Scotland. It is a place where the chirpy Scouse song-bird said that he found inspiration and a sense of calm.
A demo version of the song was recorded in September 1968 and the "mop tops" recorded it in January 1969, a day after their famous rooftop gig at Apple headquarters.
Lennon, somewhat unusually, played bass on the track and his performance was so sloppy that many people have suggested that he deliberately sabotaged the track to provoke Paul.

A pool of tears crying for the day

The song has been described by McCartney as "rather a sad song". It is a piano led ballad in E-flat major and C minor. Its conventional chord changes lyrics, and are infused with a world-weary melancholy, which evokes an elusive and fleeting glimpse of both unrequited and inevitable love. The song is reminiscent of leaves falling in the autumn twilight. It is at times, haunting, and irritating depending on the listener's mood.

The wild and windy night

Unknown to McCartney, John Lennon turned over the masters of the song to the legendary producer Phil Spector to remix it for the Let It Be album. With trademark style, the pop-tastic producer added harps, horns, an orchestra and a women's choir. The delicacy and refined nuances of the original was quite literally lost in the mix of 18 violins, four violas, four cellos, three trumpets, three trombones, two guitars, and a choir of women. When McCartney first heard what Spector had done to his "baby", he was not happy. McCartney demanded the instrumentation to be reduced. His demand went unanswered by the Beatles management and shortly after, the Beatles split up in hostile circumstances.

Lead me to your door

Although, it came from a troubled background, The Long and Winding Road became the Beatles last and 20th number one song in the United States.
McCartney never stopped giving voice to his displeasure at Spector's version of the song and in 2003, exacted some sweet revenge when the remaining Beatles and Yoko One released Let It Be... Naked.
For the first-time listeners to this record could hear The Long and Winding Road as its author intended, stripped down and free of strings.