3 Paul McCartney Songs That Feel Like Running Away to Scotland

In 1970, amidst the Beatles’ tumultuous split, Paul McCartney famously escaped to a farm in Scotland with his wife, Linda, and two daughters. Then while announcing his solo album, McCartney, the songwriter shared that The Beatles were officially broken up. Here are a few songs that either take inspiration from McCartney’s farm in Scotland or that just feel like running away to a place of sanctuary.

“Mull of Kintyre”

Released by McCartney’s band Wings but written by McCartney and Denny Laine, “Mull of Kintyre” takes inspiration from the Kintyre Peninsula in Scotland. It was there that McCartney bought a house at High Park Farm in Campbeltown.

The decision to buy the property was actually inspired by a suggestion from his financial advisors, who thought McCartney should invest in poverty.

“It’s 200 acres and a farmhouse as well,” McCartney shared in 1966. “It was well worth the money as far as I’m concerned. But don’t think I’m a big property tycoon. I only buy places I like.”

Of the song “Mull of Kintyre”, McCartney said in the Wingspan: Hits And History compilation, “It was a love song really, about how I enjoyed being there and imagining I was traveling away and wanting to get back there.”

“Country Dreamer”

McCartney released this song with Wings as well, as the B-side to the song “Helen Wheels”. You can literally feel the vibes of a Scottish summer through the lyrics.

“[‘Country Dreamer’] starts ‘I’d like to walk in a field with you/Take my hat and my boots off too.’ It was very much what we were doing in Scotland in the summer, and I like the idea that he’s got a hat and boots,” McCartney told The Lyrics. “In Scotland, it would be raining and muddy a lot, or we’d be on the farm, so you would often have wellies on. They wouldn’t be very glamorous boots. But you’d come to a stream, and you’d take them off and get in.”

“Winter Bird / When Winter Comes”

McCartney actually wrote and recorded “When Winter Comes”, which appears on his album, McCartney III, back in 1992. He later wrote “Winter Bird” for the opening credits of the song’s accompanying short film.

Although not necessarily inspired by Scotland at the time, the Beatle later explained that, when he rediscovered this song, it felt like a “harking back” to when he and Linda escaped there.

The song mostly talks about tasks that need to be done on a farm and sings of the quiet peace that comes with being indoors during the winter season.

“We ran away basically,” he explained of that time in an interview. “I was a young parent and we were just starting to bring up our family. The idea of fixing a fence or digging a ditch or planting a tree was nice to me. It was romantic and practical. ‘When Winter Comes’ is harking back to that and it’s something I still love. I love getting my hands dirty.”

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