Paul McCartney’s Reveals His Favorite Wings Deep Cuts

americansongwriter.com

Paul McCartney’s Reveals His (and His Late Wife’s) Favorite Wings Deep Cuts

BY MATT FRIEDLANDER

American Songwriter

SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

Fans of Paul McCartney’s post-Beatles band Wings have had quite a bit to be excited about lately. First off, a new documentary called Man on the Run focusing on the launch McCartney’s solo career just premiered at the 2025 Telluride Film Festival. The movie also will begin streaming on Prime Video in February 2026. In addition, a fully sanctioned book about Sir Paul’s work with Wings, titled Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, will be published on November 4.

Paul McCartney 

LINDA MCCARTNEY

If that weren’t enough, the Wings Fun Club has been reactivated and an online hub focusing on the band was launched recently.

With all this Wings-related activity in mind, the latest installment of the “You Gave Me the Answer” Q&A series features McCartney answering a fan-submitted question asking what his favorite deep cut by the band is.

The fan, named Aidan, noted that his own favorite song by Sir Paul is the 1979 B-side “Daytime Nighttime Suffering.” He also pointed out that McCartney’s late wife and Wings bandmate, Linda, said that tune was one of her favorites too.

“I agree!” McCartney responded. “‘Daytime Nighttime Suffering’ is one of my favourites, as it was Linda’s. But another song I like a lot is ‘Arrow Through Me.’”

He added, “It is lovely to see these songs reappear from time to time, mainly when they are used in a film or TV show. I think a lot of young people discover my songs this way. Thanks for listening!”

More About “Daytime Nighttime Suffering” and “Arrow Through Me”

“Daytime Nighttime Suffering” and “Arrow Through Me” were both recorded during the sessions for Wings’ seventh and final studio album, Back to the Egg, which was released in June 1979.

“Daytime Nighttime Suffering” was released in March 1979 as the B-side of the non-album single “Goodnight Tonight.” The latter tune peaked at No. 5 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the U.K. singles chart.

About two minutes into “Daytime Nighttime Suffering,” Paul and Linda’s son, James, who was 1 year old at the time, can be heard crying in the background.

“Arrow Through Me” appeared on Back to the Egg and was released as a single from the album in the U.S. The reggae-influenced tune reached No. 29 on the Hot 100.

Writing about “Arrow Through Me” in his 2021 book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, McCartney noted, “I have always had a soft spot for this song. There’s a nice horn riff in it, and it’s funky. Sometimes you write to get a sort of feeling rather than a perfectly ‘correct’ lyric. Sometimes the lyric can be secondary to the feeling. This one has as much, or more, to do with the feel of the song, the groove.”