For as serious a songwriter as Paul McCartney is, he’s never been one to take himself too seriously. Ever since his days in The Beatles, McCartney has had a boyish, silly charm that persists even in his 80s. That’s why when musical parodist Weird Al Yankovic first approached McCartney about doing a spoof on one of his songs, the musician was intrigued. But once he heard the premise, he had to decline.
Why Paul McCartney Said No to Weird Al Yankovic
When Weird Al first reached out to Paul McCartney about doing a spoof on his classic James Bond theme, “Live And Let Die”, the parodist was doing so as a formality. Technically, U.S. copyright law protects parodies as fair use. Weird Al didn’t need McCartney’s permission. Still, he prefers to get approval before releasing a spoof to avoid developing any bad blood or potential legal trouble.
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He might have regretted his propensity for politeness when McCartney turned him down, though. Weird Al planned to turn “Live And Let Die” into “Chicken Pot Pie”, with lyrics like, “But if there’s one thing in this world that I like better than a corned beef on rye / It’s chicken pot pie.” The big hits in the chorus would be, naturally, chicken clucks. It was a classic Weird Al spoof. But it wasn’t something McCartney felt good about signing off on, so he ultimately said no.
“He’s a strict vegetarian,” Weird Al explained in a 2016 appearance on Conan. “He didn’t want a parody song that condoned the consumption of animal flesh. That was the whole thing.” The parodist said McCartney gave his blessing to do something like “tofu pot pie,” but that didn’t fit with the chorus idea. Instead of coming up with a different four-syllable phrase with the word “chicken” in it, Weird Al decided to drop the idea altogether. (Although he will occasionally include it in live performances during song medleys.)
The Musician Had Been a Vegetarian for a Long Time
By the time Weird Al approached Paul McCartney about his “Chicken Pot Pie” parody in the early 1990s, the former Beatle had become quite outspoken about his vegetarianism. He cut meat out of his diet alongside his wife, Linda McCartney, in 1975. The couple was eating lamb chops at the dinner table and looking out the window at a couple of lambs playing. The cognitive dissonance became too much, and the family decided to stop eating meat that night.
In the years that followed, the McCartneys worked with several animal welfare organizations, published cookbooks, and advocated for vegetarianism in the press. So, it’s unsurprising that Paul would’ve turned down a parody of his song that talked about eating chicken, corned beef, and deli meats. We still think Weird Al could have come up with a different chicken-related song, but maybe the chicken is just going to have to cross that road when it gets there.
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