Paul McCartney was famously born in Liverpool, England, but he famously once wrote a song about a very different place. That place would be the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute, located in the stunning southwestern region of Scotland.
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The song in question is “Mull Of Kintyre”, named after the famous headland in the area. A collaborative track written by McCartney and Denny Laine for Wings, this non-album single became a massive hit upon its release. “Mull Of Kintyre” quickly became Wings’ biggest hit song in Britain, and also one of the best-selling singles in the United Kingdom period. It was particularly popular during Christmas of that year.
So, where’d the inspiration for this song come from?
Paul McCartney’s Love of Scotland Went Beyond a Song
“Mull of Kintyre / Oh mist rolling in from the sea / My desire is always to be here.”
Paul McCartney started working on “Mull Of Kintyre” way back in 1974, as the song appears on a home demo tape that made the rounds among bootleggers at the time, titled The Piano Tape. McCartney originally wrote the piano part on that demo and had not fleshed out the lyrics yet.
The opening of the song, which is an ode to the natural seaside beauty of Kintyre, simply came from McCartney’s love for Scotland.
“I certainly loved Scotland enough, so I came up with a song about where we were living: an area called Mull of Kintyre,” said McCartney. “It was a love song really, about how I enjoyed being there and imagining I was travelling away and wanting to get back there.”
Paul McCartney also owns a farm in the area, named High Park Farm, and has owned it since 1966.
Wings recorded the tune at that very farm in 1977, complete with Scottish bagpipes from the Campbeltown Pipe Band. Originally released as a non-album single, the song would later make it to the compilation record Wings Greatest in 1978 and McCartney’s compilation record All The Best! in 1987. The song is also featured on several other compilation albums.
“Mull Of Kintyre” peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles chart and countless international charts, but it did not particularly appeal to American audiences. The song’s B-side, “Girls’ School”, ended up doing better in the US and peaked at No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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