The Long and Winding Road

Teenagers of today probably only remember them as an historical asterisk, but in the 1960s the Beatles were the hottest thing in popular music. As an example, during the week of April 4, 1964, the group had twelve songs on the Top 100 chart, including the top five. I suspect that that degree of dominance of the popular music scene is unparalleled. 

Since my parents were both music teachers and I was a music major, I had an appreciation for any popular tunes that showed more than the average musicianship in their composition or performance. Probably not the most popular, but certainly one of the most beautiful and touching of the Beatles’ tunes was “The Long and Winding Road.” It was written in 1970 by Paul McCartney (now Sir Paul after he was knighted in 1997) and was issued as a single in 1970, a month after the group’s break-up. It became one of the Beatles’ twenty Number One hits. 

The inspiration for the song was a stretch of road on McCartney’s farm in the Scottish highlands. He told his biographer that the song was “all about the unattainable; the door you never quite reach . . . the road that you never get to the end of." 

Sir Paul was, without doubt, a musical genius – one of the greatest talents in the history of popular music. However, in the instance of The Long and Winding Road, I have to say that I think he was wrong about one thing, and there is a story behind my opinion. 

As the Beatles as a group were coming unraveled and nearing the end, the tune was turned over to American producer Phil Specter. He had McCartney’s singing overdubbed with a lush background arrangement using an orchestra and chorus. Reportedly the members of the band had telegraphed their approval of the arrangement, but McCartney later came to resent it because he preferred a simpler, more straightforward arrangement.  

Honestly, I think that Sir Paul was wrong. Had the song been performed with the typical instrumentation used by the Beatles and other popular groups, it would have been just another pretty ballad. However, the achingly nostalgic lyrics, McCartney’s poignant singing, the beautiful tune, and the absolutely gorgeous background arrangement, set against the backdrop of the end of an historic era in popular music, all combined to produce one of the epic tunes of that generation.  

I was a junior in high school when the tune was released, and every time I hear it, I am taken back to the bittersweet days of my youth – and I suspect I am not the only one. After all, is not the road for all of us one that is winding, and long?