Mull of Kintyre – A Guilty Pleasure

We all have our "guilty pleasure" music even if we try and deny it. What is it though? Well it’s those songs that we don't want to admit to liking. The term "guilty pleasure" is often used to describe music that is supposedly so bad or cheesy that people feel embarrassed listening to it. The way I see it, if you're enjoying a song on any level then the artist must've done something right! For me,‘Mull of Kintyre’ by Paul McCartney’s Wings is one of my guilty pleasures - and I must admit I’ve still got the 7” single that I was bought as a Christmas present way back in 1977. 

McCartney’s Writing
Paul McCartney always seems to me to be at his best when he’s writing about things that he really cares about, be it a place or someone special. It’s almost like he feels he should put more effort into his writing rather than some of the half-baked, unfinished ideas of songs he has in the middle of most of his albums. I know it’s back in his Beatles days but ‘Hey Jude’ was a really good example of what I’m saying. Written about John Lennon’s son, Julian, it start as a compassionate word to Jules and ends up a no limits anthem for positivity. Similarly, on Penny Lane he takes a beloved Liverpool street from back in his childhood and transforms it into a nostalgia filled idyllic scene.

Mull of Kintyre 
 ‘Mull Of Kintyre’ was written by Paul and Denny Laine back in 1977. The Mull of Kintyre in Scotland is obviously a place very close to McCartney’s heart and as such continues this tradition he has of writing good songs about things he loves. Its lyrics describe the Scottish countryside around the Mull of Kintyre and, while I know that it’s a spectacular landscape, it’s not really the place itself that provides the magic, it’s Paul’s connection with it - or to be even more accurate, Paul’s undeniable love for it.

Somehow he manages to transpose that stunning landscape into the melody, lyrics and overall general atmosphere of the song. You can tell the way he sings “my desire is always to be here” that it really is heartfelt. It feels like he’s putting the place above anywhere else. Now under normal circumstances I’d be pretty irked by someone sticking a load of bagpipes in the middle of a song, but on ‘Mull of Kintyre’ it works, they create a feel for the place almost an atmosphere that draws you into Paul’s own tranquil feelings, the effect when those bagpipes kick in still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Close your eyes, and you’ll feel like you’re stood on those “Dark distant mountains with valleys of green”- but without the howling gale force wind of course.

McCartney manages to communicate his own memories and feelings so vigorously, that they transcend any particular landscape. The accent is not put on the Mull itself, but rather on those “smiles in the sunshine and tears in the rain”. And that’s why the track resonates with us from the start. In reality, ‘Mull of Kintyre’ could be about any place that you want it to be - just like ‘Penny Lane’ could. And like ‘Hey Jude’, it can hold any personal connotations you might want to attach to it. 

Despite what some naysayers might say, in my opinion it’s a timeless classic in the same way both ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘Penny Lane’ are. It’s a song whose meaning goes way beyond most of the fake folkie labels that seem to get attached to it. So for me, it will always remain one of my guilty pleasures.