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Arrow Through Me

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"Arrow Through Me"
Single by Wings
from the album Back to the Egg
B-side"Old Siam, Sir"
Released14 August 1979 (1979-08-14) (US)
Recorded12–17 July 1978
Genre
Length3:37
LabelColumbia (US)
Songwriter(s)Paul McCartney
Producer(s)Paul McCartney
Wings singles chronology
"Getting Closer"
(1979) 		"Arrow Through Me"
(1979) 		"Rockestra Theme"
(1979)

"Arrow Through Me" is a song by the British–American rock band Wings, released on their 1979 album Back to the Egg.[5]

Background

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"Arrow Through Me", unlike most songs on Back to the Egg, is more pop-oriented than rock-oriented.[6]

"Arrow Through Me", harmonically it is almost like Duke Ellington could have written it.

— Laurence Juber, Daytrippin'[7]

Ultimate Classic Rock contributor Nick DeRiso compared the keyboard bass line to those of Stevie Wonder and also praised the "inventive undulating polyrhythm" played by drummer Steve Holley.[8] DeRiso rated "Arrow Through Me" to be Wings' 8th greatest song.[8] Billboard described it as "a light and bouncy midtempo tune with sparse orchestration."[9] Cash Box called the song "a slightly quirky tune" and said that the instrumentation creates a "somber but light backing for the pleading vocals.[10] Record World called it a "unique and throroghly refreshing McCartney effort" whose rhythm "struts while the keyboards ring and bold horn charts inject energy."[11]

Personnel

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  • Paul McCartney – vocals, keyboard bass, electric piano, clavinet[12]
  • Steve Holley – drums, Flexatone, drum machine
  • Howie Casey – horns
  • Tony Dorsey – horns
  • Steve Howard – horns
  • Thaddeus Richard – horns

Release

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It was the A-side of the second US single released from Back to the Egg and peaked at number 29. The B-side was "Old Siam, Sir", which was the A-side of the first UK single.

Other

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The song was used with the opening credits of, and as a main melody line through, the 1980 movie Oh! Heavenly Dog, starring Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour and Benji. In 2010, neo-soul artist Erykah Badu sampled "Arrow Through Me" on an album track called "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long" on her CD New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh). It also appeared in the WKRP in Cincinnati episode "God Talks to Johnny" (1979).[13]

In 2020, the song appeared in episode 2 (track 2) of Hulu's TV series adaptation of Nick Hornbys novel High Fidelity starring Zoë Kravitz.[14]

Chart history

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References

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  1. ^ Hewitt, Paolo (2005). "Ten Solo Gems". NME. NME Originals. 2 (3): 20.
  2. ^ Sheffield, Rob (6 March 2024). "The 100 Best Beatles Solo Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 April 2024. Arrow Through Me" is impeccably suave mall-funk from Back to the Egg...
  3. ^ DeRiso, Nick. "Top 10 Paul McCartney and Wings Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  4. ^ Petridis, Alexis (16 June 2022). "Paul McCartney's greatest post-Beatles songs – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  5. ^ McCartney: Songwriter ISBN 0-491-03325-7 p. 219
  6. ^ McCartney: Songwriter ISBN 0-491-03325-7 p. 204
  7. ^ Terrill, Marshall (10 August 2010). "Exclusive: Ex-Wings guitarist, Laurence Juber, talks about attending 'Paul McCartney University'". Daytrippin' Beatles Magazine.
  8. ^ a b DeRiso, Nick. "Top 10 Wings Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 10 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 25 August 1979. p. 75. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  10. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 25 August 1979. p. 7. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 25 August 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Arrow Through Me (song)". The-paulmccartney-project.com. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  13. ^ My Year of Chevy: One Guy's Journey Through the Filmography of Chevy Chase ISBN 978-1-304-16206-9 p. 15
  14. ^ Gonzales, Erica (28 February 2020). "Here's Every Song on 'High Fidelity,' So You Don't Have to Shazam Every Scene". Harper's BAZAAR.
  15. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 20 October 1979. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  16. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 13 October 1979. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  17. ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  18. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 157.
  19. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
  20. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN 0-89820-142-X.
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