"Oh Woman, Oh Why" is a song written by English musician

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, first released on the

Apple Records Apple Records is a record label founded by the Beatles in 1968 as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mar ...

label in February 1971 as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to McCartney's debut single as a solo artist, "

Another Day Another Day may refer to: Albums * ''Another Day'' (Steve Ashley album) * ''Another Day'' (The Hurt Process album) * ''Another Day'' (Lene Marlin album) * ''Another Day'' (Oscar Peterson album) * ''Another Day'' (Racoon album) * ''Another ...

Lyrics and music

The overall style of "Oh Woman, Oh Why" is that of a tense,

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

rock song complemented by a fierce vocal delivery. In addition, the song is paced by a drum rhythm which establishes a solid foundation upon which tight guitar lines interweave. Beatle biographer John Blaney praised McCartney's "rip-roaring" vocal performance for its grit and rawness. Blaney also praises McCartney's "economical"

bass line Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, dub and electronic, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched instrumental part or line played (in jazz and some f ...

and

Denny Seiwell Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American drummer and a founding member of Wings. He also drummed for Billy Joel and Liza Minnelli and played in the scores for the films ''Waterworld'', '' Grease II'', and ''Vertical Limit''. His drum ...

's "thunderous" drumming. Blaney does criticize the lyrics for "questioning rather than celebrating womanhood," stating that in this context the aggressiveness of the vocal performance is "particularly notable."

Release

"Oh Woman, Oh Why" was listed with "Another Day" during the single's run on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart in the United States. The record peaked at number 5 on the Hot 100 in April 1971. On the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 chart, which listed sides separately, "Oh Woman, Oh Why" peaked at number 55. The song has been praised for McCartney's impressive range of vocal pitch.

Subsequent releases

Although "Another Day" and "Oh Woman, Oh Why" were not originally released on any solo or

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expresse ...

album, both songs appeared as bonus tracks on later editions of Paul and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

's 1971 solo album, ''

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

''. "Oh Woman, Oh Why" has also been included on the Special and Deluxe editions of the 2012 remasters of ''Ram''. It was also included on ''

The 7" Singles Box ''The 7" Singles Box Set'' is a box set by Paul McCartney released in December 2022 containing 80 seven-inch vinyl singles originally released between 1971 and 2022. The box set was packaged in a wooden crate manufactured in the United Kingdom an ...

'' in 2022.

Personnel

– vocals, bass, electric guitar, percussion, shaker, gun shots *

Hugh McCracken Hugh Carmine McCracken (March 31, 1942 – March 28, 2013) was an American rock guitarist and session musician based in New York City, primarily known for his performance on guitar and also as a harmonica player. McCracken was additionally ...

– electric guitar *

– drums, percussion, shaker *

– backing vocals

References

External links

Allmusic review AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

1971 singles Apple Records singles Blues rock songs Music published by MPL Music Publishing Paul McCartney songs Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Songs written by Paul McCartney {{Beatles-song-stub