The Long and Winding Road meaning

[DarkHorse]

This song has been on my mind a lot lately. What do the lyrics mean? Are they about Paul? Who wrote it? Well, there are two possibilities in my opinion: 1) The song was written about someone in Bill's life who he left behind to be with the Beatles or 2) The song was written by Bill and John to Paul from John's perpective. I think it is #2 but I encourage any insight anyone can give.

The lyrics, the ones in italics are what Bill wrote and the bold lyrics are John's contribution imho:

The long and winding road
That leads to your door
Will never disappear
I've seen that road before
It always leads me here
leads me to your door.

The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day.
Why leave me standing here?
Let me know the way.

Many times I've been alone
And many times I've cried,
Anyway you'll never know
The many ways I've tried.

But still they lead me back
To the long, winding road
You left me standing here
A long, long time ago
Don't leave me waiting here
Lead me to your door.

But still they lead me back
To the long winding road
You left me standing here
A long, long time ago (ohhh)
Don't keep me waiting here
Lead me to your door.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...


If Bill wrote the the above lyrics(from John's perpective of course) then that explains why he has gotten so upset so many times about what Phil Spector did to LIB, especially this song.

[noodles]

Here's my theory on this song. I realise not everyone sees LSD interview Paul and Mountain Man as two different people, in fact I may be the only one but here's what I think. I think that MM was dating Linda Eastman before he went through the transformation to become Paul. I think this song was written while he was going through this process, while he was on that 'long and winding road' that eventually led to being the permenant Paul which meant he could marry Linda and they could live happily ever after. And they did.

[TotalInformation]

It was the one and only Faul's song abut what led him to where he was as a Beatle, etc. Lyrics by Faul, music by Elton John.

The other Faul/Elton song on that album, "Let It Be," was written from JPM's perspective -- Faul assuming the moral authority of JPM to tell Lennon to forget about what has happened and accept it, to let it be.

[plastic paul]

Don't worry noodles, im almost certain that LSD faul only appeared in that interview, which means that there were at least two replacements.

[beatlies]

totalinformation said:

It was the one and only Faul's song abut what led him to where he was as a Beatle, etc. Lyrics by Faul, music by Elton John.

The other Faul/Elton song on that album, "Let It Be," was written from JPM's perspective -- Faul assuming the moral authority of JPM to tell Lennon to forget about what has happened and accept it, to let it be.

Let It Be is a copy, plagiarism, of Gilbert Becaud's hit song of the 1950s "Let It Be Me," somewhat improved melodically, with add lyrics of pro-apathy, inward-gazing urging along the lines of Doris Day "Que Sera Sera." Calculating brainwashing targeted at weakening the anti-war, civil rights, anti-capitalist generation.

I doubt Faul was capable of writing any lyrics beyond the odd word here and there, or maybe a line. Faul's songs were written by teams of behind-the-scenes contract writers for the British intelligence agencies, maybe including the pre-celebrity Elton John, but if Elton did write part of Let It Be he was plagiarizing the French hit "Let It Be Me."

What was the Black group that had a hit in the early 1970s with the song "Wake Up Everybody ... the world won't get much better if we all just "Let It Be" " ?

[LOVELYRITA]

"Sir" Elton and Sir Paul....two British intelligence plants into pop culture. Why else do they get "knighted" unless they are working for the crown?

[TotalInformation]

I doubt Faul was capable of writing any lyrics beyond the odd word here and there, or maybe a line. Faul's songs were written by teams of behind-the-scenes contract writers for the British intelligence agencies

It's not like writing lyrics is some impossible thing to do. Sir FAUL's first creative input was when he wrote "Hello Goodbye" to proof that any kind of silliness would sell is it had the world BEATLES on it. Don't forget that Sir FAUL had to be a rather clever person to get the job in the first place... By 1969 he was more active in trying to take control of his life. I'm sure he knew the intent of the song and would have participated in its creation. I think a great majority of the lyrics he's released over the years were his; and knowing his limitations on composing, he was more likely to contract the music part out.

Calculating brainwashing targeted at weakening the anti-war, civil rights, anti-capitalist generation.

I think that "Let It Be," like Hey Jude was written most specifically to brainwash Lennon (Jude was more successful), with the intended additional effect to brainwash the masses. In both Sir FAUL is explicitly speaking with the moral authority of JPM.

[LOVELYRITA]

Well, Bill has provided some lame lyrical content in such works as Silly Love Songs and Uncle Albert.....we are forever in his debt to the depths of those gifted songs that all of humanity is forever changed and in awe of them....

Okay, enough of sarcasm.

Bill may have some lyrical and musical abilities, but he seems more "cabaret" than a real deep songwriter. Some of the "deep" songs acredited to him in the latter days of the Beatles I believe were compositions that were begun by JPM that were never finished and Bill, or some operative songwriter helped pen.

[mysteryboy]

beatlies said:

totalinformation said:

It was the one and only Faul's song abut what led him to where he was as a Beatle, etc. Lyrics by Faul, music by Elton John.

The other Faul/Elton song on that album, "Let It Be," was written from JPM's perspective -- Faul assuming the moral authority of JPM to tell Lennon to forget about what has happened and accept it, to let it be.

Let It Be is a copy, plagiarism, of Gilbert Becaud's hit song of the 1950s "Let It Be Me," somewhat improved melodically, with add lyrics of pro-apathy, inward-gazing urging along the lines of Doris Day "Que Sera Sera." Calculating brainwashing targeted at weakening the anti-war, civil rights, anti-capitalist generation.

I doubt Faul was capable of writing any lyrics beyond the odd word here and there, or maybe a line. Faul's songs were written by teams of behind-the-scenes contract writers for the British intelligence agencies, maybe including the pre-celebrity Elton John, but if Elton did write part of Let It Be he was plagiarizing the French hit "Let It Be Me."

What was the Black group that had a hit in the early 1970s with the song "Wake Up Everybody ... the world won't get much better if we all just "Let It Be" " ?

Be AT LES O,
Do you know of any sources/links that have a sample of that song? Even a midi would do.
Thanks

[lili]

All of the songs that Bill recorded with the Beatles were either penned by John, or were songs that Paul was working on at the time of his unfortunate "accident". Some of the songs that Bill recorded after the breakup of the Beatles were created from lyrics/tapes that he found around Cavendish. "Another day" is an example of this. I also believe that Sir Elton had a heavy hand in Bill's early solo work. The piano in "Baby I'm Amazed" sounds alot like Elton's style.

[LOVELYRITA]

Wouldn't surprise me, as Sir Elton works for the crown too....
I also saw him in an old video of T. Rex, get it on, bang a gong.....Sir Elton, with hair, was playing the piano for him....So it wouldn't be a stretch if he worked as session musician

[DarkHorse]

After thinking it over for a few weeks, I tend to think this song might be written about someone in Bill's past. It could be the lover Bill left to become Paul MCartney of the Beatles.[ "You left me standing here a long, long time ago"]

And this obviously was difficult for Bill to deal with. ["Step on the gas and wipe that tear away"]

He is singing as if he is this woman he left to become a Beatle and she is pleading with him to come back to her.["Don't leave me waiting here, lead me to your door"]

[LOVELYRITA]

..Or maybe Vivian Stanshell was really a woman before Bill became Faul.....

Seriously, it does sound like that now that you mentioned it.
Or maybe Bill has MPD and his female alter wrote it to the Bill alterego after he became Faul.

Anything can be possible at this stage of the charade.

[DarkHorse]

I've changed my thinking a bit on this. It's either written by Faul as if her were singing to Linda(as noodles said) OR it is, as I said before, sang from the perspective of the woman that Faul left behind and she is "crying for the day" Bill left her.

[B]

beatlies wrote:
"What was the Black group that had a hit in the early 1970s with the song 'Wake Up Everybody ... the world won't get much better if we all just 'Let It Be'?"

That would be Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and the song was "Wake Up, Everybody".
hear it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l_VIRJKhAg
I sincerely doubt that there's any Beatles connection.

This part of The Long and Winding Road:

The wild and windy night
That the rain washed away
Has left a pool of tears
Crying for the day. (of justice or vengeance)

refers, in my opinion, to the night when Paul and Sylvie Vartan's plane was shot out of the sky.

For those of you who are saying "What?!" - I believe that the two of them tried to run away
from their public lives, and got married in a ceremony that was held on an island.
(Hence the buoy sounds at the start of "Here Come the Sun King" on Abbey Road.)
The plan appears to have been an idyllic and anonymous retirement of the two from
public life. I think their replacements had been chosen and were ready to take their places.
I believe that David Gilmour's recent album, "On an Island" is an account of his return
to the place where this event took place, and his memories of it.
I believe that as the plane left to take Paul and Sylvie to their "honeymoon" it was shot
out of the sky, possibly in view of the wedding guests. I believe that is the meaning of the line,
"Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground" in the James Taylor song "Fire and Rain".
I also believe that is the meaning of these words in "I am the Walrus":

"See how they fly like Lucy in the Sky, see how they run. I'm crying."

I believe that Sylvie did not survive the crash of the plane into the sea. I believe that Paul's body
washed up onto the shore, and he may have actually survived, somewhat intact, but seriously
injured. I believe these words from the Deep Purple song "A Strange Kind Of Woman" sum
up the situation pretty well:

"She finally said she loved me, I wed her in a hurry
No more callers, and I glowed with pride.
I'm dreaming; I feel like screaming!
I won my woman just before she died!"

I believe that if Paul survived the event, he lived with profound guilt, feeling he was responsible
for what had happened. I believe the plane was shot down at the behest of "authorities"
who did not want anything so scandalous as news of an 'eloping' of two of the worlds' most popular
artists to hit the press, particularly since Sylvie appears to have been already married at the time.
Other factors were involved, of course.

Getting back to "The Long and Winding Road" , the lines:

"Why leave me standing here?
Let me know the way.

Many times I've been alone
And many times I've cried,
Anyway you'll never know
The many ways I've tried."

The first two lines appear to be addressed to God by one of the forlorn band mates, who then
goes on to comment to the listener about his many attempts to achieve a desired goal.
He then goes on to observe:

But still they lead me back
To the long, winding road

which is the long winding road of life which one travels in the hope of gaining access to
"heaven's door" evidently, and the "they" who lead the singer back to the road of life would
most likely be the angels, and guardian angels, of the individual who is seeking to be on the path
that leads to "your" (God's) door.

All of this is in my opinion of course. ;D My "long and winding" explanation...

There's no telling who all wrote this song. Lennon and McCartney, wasn't it?

"Paul" shown on the cover of (note the title) "McCartney II", coming out of the sea to haunt
those who would have done him in:

[Mellow Yellow]

BTW whatever happened to Beatlies..... he hasn't posted in a while.

[LOVELYRITA]

I was wondering the same thing. Always had some informative material. Very good researcher.

[LOVELYRITA]

This doesn't seem like it's a Faul/Bill composition.

Very lyrical and poetic flow that most of his material is not. Not saying that his songwriting is bad, but it's more "showy" than lyrical.

[DarkHorse]

Does anyone have a pic of the woman, who is not Linda, that is pictured on the back or inner insert of one of Faul's albums? She was a blonde if I remember. This was discussed before and many thought it was the woman Faul left behind to become a Beatle.

[65if2007]

beatlies said:

totalinformation said:

It was the one and only Faul's song abut what led him to where he was as a Beatle, etc. Lyrics by Faul, music by Elton John.

The other Faul/Elton song on that album, "Let It Be," was written from JPM's perspective -- Faul assuming the moral authority of JPM to tell Lennon to forget about what has happened and accept it, to let it be.

Let It Be is a copy, plagiarism, of Gilbert Becaud's hit song of the 1950s "Let It Be Me," somewhat improved melodically, with add lyrics of pro-apathy, inward-gazing urging along the lines of Doris Day "Que Sera Sera." Calculating brainwashing targeted at weakening the anti-war, civil rights, anti-capitalist generation.

The song stands up well enough on its own as a song.

There's no need for you to gild the lily by pointing out the worthy causes that the song might be put to.

Besides which, the individual who once fired members of his staff for eating meat is obviously NOT content to really let it be.

The individual who gave an interview expounding the benefits of LSD and who now presumes to tell other people what to put in their bodies and who even presumes to tell countries how to wage war and diplomacy -- from a 60's "peace activist" standpoint -- is obviously NOT in the employ of any conservative institution.

[65if2007]

totalinformation said:

It was the one and only Faul's song abut what led him to where he was as a Beatle, etc. Lyrics by Faul, music by Elton John.

The other Faul/Elton song on that album, "Let It Be," was written from JPM's perspective -- Faul assuming the moral authority of JPM to tell Lennon to forget about what has happened and accept it, to let it be.

Lennon did hate that song, didn't he? And maybe not only because of the quasi-religious qualities of it.

[LOVELYRITA]

Not only the religious part of it, but the idea that the replacement is telling John to Let It Be, when he's taken the identity of John's best friend.

[tafultong]

65if2007 said:

Lennon did hate that song, didn't he? And maybe not only because of the quasi-religious qualities of it.

In the book, "Many Years From Now" Paul said that he was much more angry about Lennon's falsetto introduction to the song "Let It Be" (Hark the Angels Come...) than he was at the Spectorization of "Long and Winding Road."

[65if2007]

lovelyrita said:

Not only the religious part of it, but the idea that the replacement is telling John to Let It Be, when he's taken the identity of John's best friend.

And invoking the name and memory of that Paulls dead mother as though it were his own yet.

Is that why Lennon can be heard saying "Stop it!" on some LIB tracks?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IGgDLn8-Kc

Some people, including iamaphoney, hear "Paul is dead", but I don't hear that. The phrase "stop it" may have its own implications though.

[65if2007]

tafultong said:

65if2007 said:

Lennon did hate that song, didn't he? And maybe not only because of the quasi-religious qualities of it.

In the book, "Many Years From Now" Paul said that he was much more angry about Lennon's falsetto introduction to the song "Let It Be" (Hark the Angels Come...) than he was at the Spectorization of "Long and Winding Road."

PAUL said that?