Paul McCartney Almost Didn’t Release a Song Because He Feared What the Punks Would Think
Paul McCartney almost didn’t release his 1977 song, “Mull of Kintyre,” because he feared what the punks would think and do when they heard it. Thankfully, he didn’t let his fear of them interfere with his music.
The former Beatle wrote ‘Mull of Kintyre’ in 1977
In the 1970s, Paul and his family moved from London to his Scottish farm, High Park Farm, in Kintyre. In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul explained that he thinks many English people, including himself, have a Gaelic dream, a romantic dream of Scottish history or Irish history.
That history was even more important for Paul because some of his family came from Ireland. He had a right to play into that dream.
One day, it occurred to him that there were no new Scottish songs. There were tons of great old tunes that the bagpipe bands played, but nobody had written anything new. So, he took the opportunity. “A new Scottish song written by a Sassenach? That would be fun,” he wrote.
Paul wrote that as an artist, you try to make sense of or honor the place in which you find yourself. That could be where you’ve come from or where you’re living at that moment.
When Paul and his wife Linda first moved to High Park Farm, he wasn’t too keen on it. However, Linda opened his eyes to how great living there could be. So, Paul was happy to romanticize Scotland in “Mull of Kintyre.”
He wrote the song with the help of a pipe major called Tony Wilson. They recorded the song in the garden because the bagpipe was too loud inside. They recorded the backing tracks first and then added a full pipe band. Everyone had a great time, and they all loved the song.
The only people Paul feared would hate it was the punks.
Paul McCartney almost didn’t release ‘Mull of Kintyre’ because of the punks
In The Lyrics, Paul wrote that the “big thought” from him and everyone else was that it was 1977. Songs like “Mull of Kintyre” weren’t in fashion, especially because of the punk scene.
Paul felt he couldn’t release “Mull of Kintyre” in those days of punk. “I mean, it was madness,” Paul wrote. In the end, Paul decided to release the Scottish song.
“But even though I was a Sassenach, it became a big Scottish song,” Paul wrote. “It ended up spending nine weeks at number one, and I think it’s still something like the fourth best-selling single in the U.K. ever.”
Paul had nothing to worry about with the punks
The former Beatle had nothing to worry about. Paul wrote that the strange thing was even the punks liked it.
One day, he and Linda were in traffic in London’s West End. They saw a big gang of punks who looked very aggressive. The couple started crouching down a bit so the gang wouldn’t see them. Paul thought, “Jesus, what are they gonna do?”
The gang noticed them, and one came over to Paul’s car. The musician lowered his window a little and the punk said, “Oy, Paul, that ‘Mull of Kintyre’ is f****** great!”
So, Paul worried for nothing. However, there was no knowing whether punks would like the song. Paul took a chance.
