"Jenny Wren" is a song by

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 ...

from his 2005

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

'' Chaos and Creation in the Backyard''. It was also released, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 21 November 2005, as the second single from the album.

Background

"Jenny Wren" was written in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and is about a character of the same name from

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' 1865 novel '' Our Mutual Friend''. It also refers to a bird known as the wren, which is reported to be McCartney's favourite. McCartney wrote the tune in the same sort of finger picking style found in " Blackbird", "

Mother Nature's Son "Mother Nature's Son" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney, and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was in ...

" (''

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

'') and "

Calico Skies "Calico Skies" is the sixth song on Paul McCartney's 1997 album, '' Flaming Pie''. McCartney had been staying on Long Island when the category-three storm Hurricane Bob that made landfall had hit in August 1991. This made McCartney sit with an ...

" (''

Flaming Pie ''Flaming Pie'' is the tenth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 5 May 1997 by Parlophone in the UK and Capitol Records in the US. His first studio album in over four years, it was mostly recorded after McCartney's ...

''). The song earned a nomination for the 2007

Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

category. The solo is played on an

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

n woodwind instrument, called a duduk—a first in pop music history—played by Venezuelan-born world winds specialist and multi-instrumentalist

Pedro Eustache Pedro Eustache (born August 18, 1959) is a Venezuelan-born flautist, reed player, world woodwind player, composer, and instrument maker. He has more than seven years of symphonic experience and a collection of around 600 instruments from all ...

. The guitar is tuned down a whole step for the song, providing a unique sound that reflects McCartney's earlier works. As to who Jenny Wren is, McCartney said:

Recording

The song was recorded in October 2004, with duduk overdub added in a separate session on 25th of the same month.

Covers and references

The song has been covered by several artists, such as the Norwegian jazz trio SOLID! who recorded an instrumental version on their 2008 release ''Happy Accidents'' (AIM Records).

Track listing

*Digital single released 31 October 2005 #"Jenny Wren" (radio edit) – 2:09 *7" R6678 #"Jenny Wren" – 3:47 #"Summer of '59" – 2:11 *CD CDR6678 #"Jenny Wren" – 3:47 #"I Want You to Fly" – 5:03 *Maxi-CD CDRS6678 #"Jenny Wren" – 3:47 #"I Want You to Fly" – 5:03 #"This Loving Game" – 3:15

Chart positions

Personnel

Personnel per booklet. *

– vocals, Epiphone Texan acoustic guitar, Ludwig floor tom *

– duduk