| On the Wings of a Nightingale | |
| Cover: | On_the_Wings_Nightingale_Everly_Bros.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Everly Brothers |
| Album: | EB 84 |
| B-Side: | Asleep |
| Genre: | Pop |
| Length: | 2:34 |
| Label: | Mercury |
| Producer: | Dave Edmunds |
| Prev Title: | Not Fade Away |
| Prev Year: | 1973 |
| Next Title: | The First in Line |
| Next Year: | 1985 |
"On the Wings of a Nightingale" is a song written by Paul McCartney and recorded by the Everly Brothers in 1984 for their album EB 84, which Dave Edmunds produced.
Paul McCartney had written the song specifically for the Everly Brothers and played guitar on the recording.[1] The track was included as the first track on the duo's 1984 album EB 84. "On the Wings of a Nightingale" become their most popular song since 1970 and reached number 50 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The video made to accompany the song shows the brothers rescuing a classic car (specifically, a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible) from a junk yard, restoring it (in a series of shots that compress an unknown number of weeks, or months, into 35 seconds of video time) to drivable condition, then finally taking it out for a spin.
| Chart (1984–85) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgium (Ultratop)[2] | 12 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 10 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 39 |
| Germany[3] | 50 |
| Netherlands[4] | 3 |
| New Zealand[5] | 48 |
| South African Singles Chart[6] | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 50 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 9 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles[7] | 49 |
| UK Singles Chart | 41 |
The Spongetones recorded a version for their 2000 Odd Fellows album.[8] Apple Jam also recorded three versions for their 2012 On the Wings of a Nightingale EP.
McCartney's own version still exists, strictly as a demonstration recording; it appears on the Artifacts III album, released in 1995. The accompanying booklet states Summer 1984 as the date of the recording.[9]