The Beatles Lyric That Owed a Debt to Nat King Cole

The Beatles found ways of incorporating all kinds of unexpected influences into their work. Those influences generally went beyond just other rock and rollers. For instance, “Mother Nature’s Son” took its cue, at least initially, from a Nat King Cole song.

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From there, Paul McCartney added his love for all things outdoors and nature-related into it. That led to a song that subtly gives The White Album some of its most emotionally resonant moments.

“Nature’s” Way

The Beatles wrote many of the songs that appeared on The White Album while they were on retreat in India in 1968 with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. “Mother Nature’s Son” wasn’t one of them. Paul McCartney wrote it later that year while he was at his father’s house.

However, the impact of the retreat played into its creation. The Maharishi gave a lecture about nature at one point to the group. Both McCartney and John Lennon were inspired to write songs from it. Lennon’s song wasn’t recorded by The Beatles. But he used the melody for the song “Jealous Guy” on his 1971 solo album Imagine.

As for McCartney’s song, he used more than just the Maharishi’s words as inspiration. He also remembered a classic standard sung by one of the greats when writing “Mother Nature’s Son.” He explained as much in the biography Many Years From Now.

“I’ve always loved the [Nat King Cole] song called ‘Nature Boy’,” he said. “‘There was a boy, a very strange and gentle boy…’ He loves nature, and ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ was inspired by that song. I’d always loved nature, and when Linda and I got together, we discovered we had this deep love of nature in common.”

The White Album often found The Beatles working on songs apart from one another. That proved to be the case with “Mother Nature’s Son”. Only McCartney from the group played on the track, handling acoustic guitar, bass, and percussion. Session players added trumpets and trombones to round out the sound.

Examining the Lyrics of “Mother Nature’s Son”

“Mother Nature’s Son” finds McCartney imagining himself as a product of a rural background. “Born a poor young country boy,” he begins. “Mother nature’s son.” But he could certainly relate to the musical side of this character: “All day long I’m sitting singing songs for everyone.”

McCartney paints a bucolic picture with his words. “Sit beside a mountain stream,” he sings. “See her waters rise.” These natural wonders create their own kind of music that the protagonist cherishes more than anything else.

As such, you know where this guy will be at all times: “Find me in my field of grass / Mother nature’s son.” McCartney then uses the sibilance of his words to create a sound not unlike the one that this character hears as he’s out in his favorite spot: “Swaying daisies sing a lazy song beneath the song.”

McCartney claimed that the line about “grass” was also his way of referencing marijuana, which The Beatles often alluded to in their lyrics in those days. But “Mother Nature’s Son” mostly concentrates on the drug-free highs that occur for those far from the madding crowd and out in the natural wonders of the world.

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