Tug of War was Paul's first new album since the disappointing McCartney II. Much had happened in the 2 years since this, the break up of Wings, the irreparable loss of his old friend and bandmate John Lennon and a brief reunion of Paul, George and Ringo in 1981. The question was "Could he still cut it?!". Tug of War was a stunning return to form silencing all the critics. Paul was approaching his 40th birthday during the album's production and you can see that he was looking back through the years; the title track sums up the relationship of the post-split Beatles, "Ballroom Dancing" the Hamburg years and of course the touching tribute to John Lennon.