4 Paul McCartney Songs That Smashed in the UK but Didn’t Quite Hit in the US

Few British artists have ever enjoyed as much success on American shores as Paul McCartney. Once he moved on to his post-Beatles career, both with Wings and solo, he put together a seemingly unstoppable run of singles throughout the 70s and 80s.

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For all that success, there are surprisingly several McCartney singles that were massive overseas but received a more muted response here. These four singles are the epitome of this strange phenomenon.

“Mull Of Kintyre”

Anybody who knows a little bit about McCartney’s biography recognizes that the man has a soft spot for Scotland. When The Beatles broke up, he retreated to his farm there to lick his wounds and, eventually, restart his music career. Macca repaid his debt to the area (and then some) with the swooning tribute song “Mull Of Kintyre”. Co-written with Denny Laine of Wings, the song features a band of chiming bagpipers to capture the feel of the area. Maybe the geographical details didn’t translate. While “Mull Of Kintyre” broke practically every record on the books for success as a UK single, it did little to nothing upon its release in America.

“Pipes Of Peace”

Once he decided to close up shop on Wings and go solo, Paul McCartney recorded so much material in the early 80s that it was way too much for a single album. As a result, Tug Of War, released in 1982, and Pipes Of Peace, which arrived a year later, could be considered companion pieces. The latter album turned out to be the weaker, material-wise. But it did include the “Say Say Say”, a crackerjack duet with Michael Jackson. And the title track, a piece that veers between dreamy balladry and cheeky reggae, also stood out. In Great Britain, the come-together sentiment played well, as the song hit No. 1. In the US, McCartney relegated it to the B-side of the minor hit “So Bad”.

“We All Stand Together”

Paul McCartney’s willingness to indulge his whimsical side has always seemed to enchant UK audiences more than American ones. Grumpy critics in the US often gave him a hard time for occasionally recording a song aimed at children. As a result, McCartney didn’t even give the charming “We All Stand Together” a single release in America. Instead, he focused his attention on the UK market, where the song made it to No. 3 in 1984. Paul had always been a fan of the Rupert Bear comic character, which is why he threw his weight behind the Rupert And The Frog Song film. If you can’t get on board with a chorus of frogs, we don’t know what to tell you.

“Once Upon A Long Ago”

US fans had to wait until a 2022 box of Paul McCartney singles to finally get a physical copy of this song. Which seems kind of strange, because it made it No. 10 in the UK as a single in 1987. McCartney apparently wrote it for potential inclusion in The Princess Bride. He also had ideas of possibly doing a duet with Freddie Mercury on the song. Chances are, if the latter had taken place, he probably would have given it a proper release in America. Instead, he included it on overseas versions of his greatest hits compilation All The Best!, but not on the American collection. If you haven’t heard it before, “Once Upon A Long Ago” is an effectively airy ballad with deceptively profound lyrics about the good old days.

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