"My Love" is a song by the British–American band Paul McCartney and Wings that was first released as the lead single from their 1973 album Red Rose Speedway.

In his improvised playing, McCullough imposed his own style on a Wings song for the first time, countering the more regimented approach favoured by McCartney.

Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, Brenda Lee, Andy Williams and Harry Connick Jr are among the many artists who have covered the song.

[11][12] When they performed it at Nottingham University on 9 February for Wings' public debut, the song included Linda singing lines in response to McCartney's lead vocal.

[14] According to musicologist Vincent Benitez, the verses establish a "sense of instability" through lyrics such as "And when I go away" and "And when the cupboard's bare", implying distance and material emptiness, respectively, and this mood is supported by the inclusion of chords such as B♭maj7 and D9 that suggest a departure from the home key.

[14] The outro consists of the first part of the bridge;[14] McCartney sings "Only my love does it good" before pausing and then returning with a prolonged vocalisation of the word "to" then resolving to "me".

The idea to tape the basic track and the orchestral arrangement simultaneously went against music industry convention, since the session musicians were paid by the hour.

[9] The song contains a guitar solo by Northern Irish guitarist Henry McCullough,[22] who took the opportunity to express himself in his playing[23] and depart from what he saw as McCartney's regimented approach to recording.

[36] The name change was made in the belief that the disappointing sales of Wings' 1971 debut, Wild Life, were due to the public being unaware of McCartney's involvement.

[37] Adhering to a populist approach over McCullough's blues sensibilities, McCartney insisted that he reproduce the solo exactly as heard on the studio recording.

[9] Cash Box's single reviewer described "My Love as a "fine ballad" and said that, although it was lacking in melody, McCartney's "added sentiment & crooning will soon make this a classic".

"[69] Chris Welch of Melody Maker wrote: "A grand ballad from Paul, rather in the tradition of songs that turned on the troops in the days of the Cyprus Crisis and other manifestations of the '50s.

"[70][71] When "My Love" came out, John Lennon actually said, "If only everything was as simple and unaffected as McCartney's new single, then maybe Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis would reunite with the Marx Brothers."

[73] To writers in the countercultural press, it furthered McCartney's standing as an artist of little consequence, a perception that was increased by his decision to supply the theme song for the 1973 James Bond film Live and Let Die.

"[75] In his "Consumer Guide" review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote that "[McCartney's] new love ballad meanders hopelessly where 'Yesterday' shifted enticingly" and he described Red Rose Speedway as "Quite possibly the worst album ever made by a rock and roller of the first rank".

[78] Writing in the 2004 edition of The Rolling Stone Album Guide, Greg Kot described "My Love" as McCartney's "soggiest hit" and "over-orchestrated".

[79] Former Mojo editor Mat Snow calls it a "slow-dance single" that, although commercially successful, suffered unfavourable comparison with the Beatles' 1962–1966 and 1967–1970 compilation albums, which were released around the same time in 1973 and "reminded everyone of just how good Paul's old band was".

"[18] Biographer Philip Norman pairs the song with "Maybe I'm Amazed" as "ode[s] to Linda" that, in the context of McCartney's songwriting in 1973, were "so far beyond his usual Wingspan that the dream-voices which had whispered "Yesterday" and "Let It Be" into his ear might have returned".

[5] Robert Rodriguez, writing in his book on the Beatles' first decade as solo artists, says that McCullough's playing redeemed a "potentially mawkish McCartney valentine" and he considers the track to be the highlight of a mediocre album.

[9] Others include Johnny Gill, Cher, Brenda Lee (from New Sunrise), Margie Joseph, Salena Jones, Mina, Shinehead, Andy Williams, Juice Newton, Warren Hill and Dottie West.

[92] In 1976, Linda reflected that Red Rose Speedway was "such a non-confident record" made during a "terribly unsure period", yet it still contained "beautiful songs" such as "My Love".

[97] McCartney was highly public in his expression of grief[98] and organised the services with what biographer Howard Sounes describes as "the same professionalism he brought to his concert performances".

[99] Arranged for strings, the song was the closing piece[97] performed by the Brodsky Quartet[100] at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London's Trafalgar Square on 8 June.

According to Sounes, whereas the live renditions of "My Love" had "seemingly irritated" Mills on the 2002 tour, McCartney's performances in 2008 were accompanied by pictures of Linda projected onto "huge screens" with "all images of Heather excised".