"Little Lamb Dragonfly" is a song credited to Paul

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 and Linda McCartney

Linda McCartney

Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....

 and originally released on the Wings

Wings (band)

Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....

 1973 album Red Rose Speedway

Red Rose Speedway

-Additional tracks:-Original LP Recording:Originally planned as a double album, this is the tracklisting from the acetates of the early incarnation of the album dated 13 December 1972...

. The song was originally recorded during the sessions for McCartney's Ram

Ram (album)

Ram is an album by Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney, released in 1971, the only album credited to the pair. It was the second of the two albums McCartney released between leaving The Beatles and forming Wings...

album in early 1971, and thus Hugh McCracken

Hugh McCracken

Hugh McCracken is a rhythm guitar player and session musician, arranger and producer based in New York.Especially in demand in the 60s, 70s and 80s, he appears on many recordings by Steely Dan, as well as albums by Donald Fagen, Jimmy Rushing, Billy Joel, Roland Kirk, Roberta Flack, B. B...

 plays guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 on the recording rather than Wings' guitarist Denny Laine

Denny Laine

Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...

. However, Laine did provide backing vocals during the production work for Red Rose Speedway. McCartney originally intended to use the song as part of his Rupert and the Frog Song

Rupert and the Frog Song

Rupert and the Frog Song is a 1984 animated film written and produced by Paul McCartney and directed by Geoff Dunbar and Raymond 'George' Taylor. The making of Rupert and the Frog Song began in 1981 and ended in 1983. The film was released theatrically as an accompaniment to McCartney's feature...

animated film project. Chip Madinger and Mark Easter noted that drummer Denny Seiwell may have assisted in writing the song, although he was not credited.

Music and lyrics

Music professor Robert Rodriguez described the tune of "Little Lamb Dragonfly" as "quietly haunting" with "the power to move people without their quite understanding why." The song is structured in three sections. The first section is the "Little Lamb" segment, and is in the keys

Key (music)

In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...

 of D major

D major

D major is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature consists of two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor....

 and C major

C major

C major is a musical major scale based on C, with pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature has no flats/sharps.Its relative minor is A minor, and its parallel minor is C minor....

. The middle section contains three verses of the "Dragonfly" part of the song, and is in E major

E major

E major is a major scale based on E, with the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps .Its relative minor is C-sharp minor, and its parallel minor is E minor....

. In between the second and third "Dragonfly" verses, there is a repetition of some of the music from the "Little Lamb" segment, which helps the song maintain unity. Finally, the third section is a short reprise of the "Little Lamb" segment.

There have been several interpretations of what the song is about. One theory is that the song was inspired by the actual death of a sheep on McCartney's farm. McCartney confirmed that this is at least partially correct in an interview in the late 1980s. Another interpretation is that it tells a story of how McCartney became a vegetarian. This interpretation is inspired by lines such as:

My heart is aching for you little lamb

I can help you out but I cannot help you in.

Another interpretation is that the song contains a friendly message to John Lennon

John Lennon

John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

, particularly the lines:

Since you've gone I never know

I go on but I miss you so.

However, Rodriguez believes the latter interpretation is unlikely, since other songs McCartney recorded during the Ram sessions seemed to be intended to provoke Lennon's anger. Rather, Rodriguez believes that the lyrics are merely a number of phrases that McCartney strung together because they sounded good together, without intending any particular meaning. Author Vincent Benitez described the lyrics as "childlike" and not as sophisticated as the music, noting that this is excusable given that the song was originally intended to be used in a children's film.

Critical assessment

John Blaney suggests that McCartney's decision to include this song on Red Rose Speedway may have been triggered by his realization that the album project was faltering, but suggests that "Little Lamb Dragonfly" is "too cute for its own good," stating that while "it may be marginally better than much of what Wings recorded for Red Rose Speedway, it still "fails to satisfy." However, Chris Ingham considers this song and the hit single "My Love" two of the songs on which the album works, calling this song "underrated." Rolling Stone Magazine critic Lenny Kaye also considered "Little Lamb Dragonfly" one of the best songs on Red Rose Speedway, although he notes that the song relies too much on "la-la-las." Billboard Magazine called the song one of the best cuts on Red Rose Speedway. Author Ron Schaumburg described the song as "a delightful confection." Richard Burgin of The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

called the song "truly wistful and lovely."