Linda McCartney

Released: October 26, 1998

Featuring: Paul McCartney & Wings

Songwriter: Linda McCartney

Producer: Paul McCartney

It was a Thursday night
I was working late
When I first caught sight
Of the Oriental Nightfish

The colors were swirling
The room was getting hotter
I couldn't see anything

Emerald blue, purple red
I was working late
It was a Thursday night
When I first caught sight
Of the Oriental
Night
Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish
Oh
Night
Fish, fish, fish, fish, fish

Before she met Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman McCartney (1941-1998) was a professional photographer. Despite the name, she had no connection to the Eastman Kodak fortune – rather, her family were Jewish immigrants who moved to America at a time when it was common for Jewish-Americans to choose English last names as a way to assimilate.

In May 1967, Paul was in the audience at a small music club when he struck up a conversation with Linda. In May 1968, he made an excuse to see her the next time he was in New York. Within a month, they were inseparable, and they stayed devoted to each other until she died of cancer in 1998.

Paul’s biographer called the marriage “by far the happiest and most durable in pop.” With Paul as a coach, Linda went on a notorious rise from totally untrained musician, to a (self-acknowledged) mediocre member of Wings, to the respected counter-melody, co-writer, and muse of Paul’s late-career music. In 1975, she added “activist” to her resume, when she and Paul became the most famous converts to vegetarianism at the time.

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Wide Prairie

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Wide Prairie (1998)

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