Editing Back to the Egg (section)

==="Sunny Side Up"===
The album's opening song is "Reception", an instrumental, in which McCartney attempted to capture the effect of turning a radio dial and finding "about four stations at once".<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 241">Madinger and Easter, p. 241</ref> The track features a guitar-controlled [[synthesizer]] (played by Juber) over a [[funk]]-inspired [[bassline]], and spoken voices, including a reading of part of "The Poodle and the Pug", from [[Vivian Ellis]]'s opera ''Big Ben'' (1946).<ref name=W&M88-89>Benitez, pp. 88–89</ref> A brief segment from the track "The Broadcast", which appears later on ''Back to the Egg'', is previewed in this opening piece.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 241" /> The next three songs – "[[Getting Closer (song)|Getting Closer]]", "We're Open Tonight" and "Spin It On" – adhere to the proposed album-wide concept.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 240" /> Writing in ''[[Melody Maker]]'' in June 1979, Mark Williams interpreted "Reception" as representing a radio being tuned in a car, whereby "the occupant is on his way to a gig, hence 'Getting Closer' [to the venue] and, upon arrival, 'We're Open Tonight'".<ref name="Williams/MM">Williams, Mark (16 June 1979). "Wings: Taking off at Last". ''[[Melody Maker]]''. Available at [http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/wings-taking-off-at-last Rock's Backpages] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312224730/http://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/wings-taking-off-at-last |date=12 March 2014 }} (''subscription required'').</ref> The notion of live performance is then reflected in the sequencing of what Madinger and Easter term "heavier rock tracks such as 'Spin It On'".<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 240" />

[[File:SexPistolsNorway1977.jpg|thumbnail|right|185px|The [[Sex Pistols]] (pictured in concert in 1977), part of the punk and new-wave phenomenon that inspired some songs on ''Back to the Egg'']]
McCartney had recorded a piano [[Demo (music)|demo]] for "Getting Closer" in 1974, at which point the song had a slower [[tempo]].<ref name=W&M89>Benitez, p. 89</ref> Author and ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' contributor Tom Doyle describes Wings' version as "power-popping" and reminiscent of the English band [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]].<ref name="Doyle p 174">Doyle, p. 174</ref> The mellow "We're Open Tonight" was written at the McCartneys' farm in [[Campbeltown]], Scotland, and was the album's title track until Linda suggested ''Back to the Egg''.<ref name="Madinger & Easter pp 240, 242">Madinger and Easter, pp. 240, 242</ref>

Another song composed in Scotland,<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 242" /> the fast-tempo<ref name="Williams/MM" /> "Spin It On" was an obvious acknowledgment of punk and new wave;<ref name="Sounes p 345" /> author Vincent Benitez terms it "McCartney-esque whimsy on punk steroids".<ref name=W&M90 /> Laine's composition "Again and Again and Again" similarly has "echoes of [[the Clash]]", according to McCartney biographer [[Howard Sounes]].<ref name="Sounes p 345">Sounes, p. 345</ref> This song was originally two separate pieces, which Laine combined on McCartney's recommendation.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 242">Madinger and Easter, p. 242</ref>

Although credited to McCartney alone, "[[Old Siam, Sir]]" marked "the most collective band involvement" as regards songwriting, Madinger and Easter suggest.<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 242" /> Similar in style to "Spin It On", the song features a keyboard [[riff]] written by Linda<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 242" /> and a Holley-composed [[middle eight]];<ref name="Rodriguez p 219">Rodriguez, p. 219</ref> in addition, Laine helped McCartney complete the composition,<ref name=W&M90>Benitez, p. 90</ref> an early version of which the previous incarnation of Wings had demoed in July 1976.<ref>Madinger and Easter, pp. 223–24</ref>{{refn|Laine and Holley each claimed to have written the main guitar riff to "Old Siam, Sir".<ref name=Band123/> On the day that Wings recorded the song, a disagreement over this issue almost led to a physical confrontation between the two musicians.<ref name=Band123/>|group="nb"}} "[[Arrow Through Me]]", a track more in keeping with McCartney's melodic pop style,<ref name="Madinger & Easter p 243">Madinger and Easter, p. 243</ref> is a song written from the perspective of a rejected lover.<ref name=W&M91>Benitez, p. 91</ref> With a musical arrangement that eschews guitar backing for synthesizer, [[Fender Rhodes piano]] and horns, Benitez views it as "reminiscent of the techno-pop style of [[Stevie Wonder]]".<ref name=W&M90 />