The Beatles all worked on side ventures while they were still together. While Paul McCartney and George Harrison composed music for motion picture soundtracks, John Lennon collaborated with Yoko Ono on album releases. Harrison also produced an experimental synthesiser CD titled Electronic Sound. Two weeks before to McCartney’s press statement formally terminating the group, Ringo Starr recorded Sentimental Journey.
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The Beatles all started working on solo projects after their breakup. The music press would, of course, obsessively go over the lyrics and highlight the parts where each of the Fab Four spoke about their old friends or their circumstances.
While some of these products were justified, some weren’t. Jabs tended to come and go between albums until a meeting between Paul McCartney and John Lennon in 1972, when they discussed how it would be better for everyone if they quit putting each other down in song.
That didn’t deter the media from digging deeper into the songs’ lyrics to uncover additional meanings. Let’s examine the background to Wings and Paul McCartney’s song “Let Me Roll It.”
You offered me something I can comprehend.
You put love in the palm of my hand, and I can’t express how grateful I am.
Heart-like as a wheel
Allow me to roll it and roll it towards you. Allow me to roll and roll towards you.
A Rare Beauty is a Good Riff.
According to McCartney’s 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, John Lennon was the Beatle who enjoyed using echo on his voice the best. On Lennon’s solo recordings, emulating Gene Vincent or early Elvis Presley recordings grew to seem like a hallmark.
Upon increasing the tape delay echo on his vocal performance of “Let Me Roll It,” McCartney’s impersonation of John Lennon was immediately noticed by the media.
In response, McCartney said, “The echo is not the single most important aspect in this song, though. It’s not the voice over. Not the lyrics, though. The guitar riff is it. “Searing” is the term that springs to mind. It’s a tiny, burning thing. Though we might discuss lyrics endlessly, a well-crafted riff is an uncommon and beautiful thing.
“When they hear this one, the audience gasps in shock because it is so dramatic. It ends so suddenly that it seems like everything freezes. Time comes to a stop. When it comes to the lyrics, I believe it’s reasonable to assume that “Roll It” refers to rolling a joint. I don’t believe anyone will be surprised by it.
I would want to share with you
And now is the moment for me to declare that you will be my own.
You have no idea how I feel.
Heart-like as a wheel
Allow me to roll it and deliver it to you.
Allow me to roll it and deliver it to you.
One Beatle to the Next…
“I’d Have You Anytime” was the first song on George Harrison’s 1970 album All Things Must Pass. The line “Let me roll it to you” was in it. At Scotland’s High Park Farm, McCartney created his tune. McCartney said, “A song like ‘Let Me Roll It’ came about by messing around with a small riff; if I’m lucky, the rest of the song just comes to me,” in the Wingspan liner notes.
You have no idea how I feel.
Heart-like as a wheel
Allow me to roll it and roll it towards you. Allow me to roll and roll towards you.
To Beatle
“Beef Jerky,” a song by John Lennon from his 1974 album Walls and Bridges, included a guitar line reminiscent of McCartney’s “Let Me Roll It.” McCartney stated to Clash magazine in 2010 that “Let Me Roll It” wasn’t for John. John was especially well-known for his work in the style that we employed with The Beatles. The utilisation of the echo was the main culprit here.
You’re not going to use echo just because John used it?” was the question that was asked. Not in my opinion. That was more rolling a joint, to be honest. “Let me roll it to you” was the double meaning intended there. That was the issue that was most on the back of my mind. “Dear Friend,” John took that as a clear sign to “let’s be friends.”
You offered me something I can comprehend.
You put love in the palm of my hand, and I can’t express how grateful I am.
Heart-like as a wheel
Allow me to roll it and roll it towards you. Allow me to roll and roll towards you.
A Heartfelt Love Song
McCartney believes that “Let Me Roll It” is ultimately a love song, regardless of whether it’s satirising a former Beatle or just a song about rolling a joint.
He wrote, “Anyone can relate with the picture of My heart is like a wheel so let me roll it to you,” in The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present. Anyone may relate to the feeling of vulnerability that accompanies opening your heart to someone else or expressing your love for them. It’s really challenging.
The riff’s sudden starts and stops physically represent our hesitancy to reach out in such circumstance and our reluctance to be totally transparent. The song’s continual stopping of its pace mimics the subject issue. Everyone can connect to that circumstance.
I attended the musical Be More Chill, written and performed by Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz, a year or two ago. It was about a nerdy boy who is afraid to admit he loves someone. He stammers nervously, which is a speech impediment. “Let Me Roll It” is a quite protracted stammer.
