"Jenny Wren" was written in Los Angeles, and is about an extraordinary character of the same name from Charles Dickens' 1865 novel Our Mutual Friend, a handicapped, mis-shapen young seamstress girl who is wise beyond her years, has an uncanny ability to see deeply into the character of others, and frequently speaks using metaphor and with a musical syntax. It also refers to a bird known as the wren, which is reported to be McCartney's favourite. McCartney wrote the tune in the same sort of finger picking style found in "Blackbird", "Mother Nature's Son" (The Beatles) and "Calico Skies" (Flaming Pie). The song earned a nomination for the 2007 Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance category.
The solo is played on an Armenian woodwind instrument, called a duduk—a first in pop music history—played by Venezuelan-born world winds specialist and multi-instrumentalist Pedro Eustache. The guitar is tuned down a whole step for the song, providing a unique sound that reflects McCartney's earlier works.
As to who Jenny Wren is, McCartney said:
A wren is one of my favourite birds, little English bird, it’s the smallest English bird and I always feel very privileged to see a wren because they’re very shy and it’s just, Ah! So a combination of all of that. It’s a favourite bird for me, and then instead of making it a bird, again like ‘Blackbird,’ only more definitely this time I made it a woman, you know, a girl.[2]
Recording
The song was recorded in October 2004, with duduk overdub added in a separate session on 25th of the same month.[3]
Covers and references
The song has been covered by several artists, such as the Norwegian jazz trio SOLID! who recorded an instrumental version on their 2008 release Happy Accidents (AIM Records).
