Broken Record with Rick Rubin, Malcolm Gladwell, Bruce Headlam and Justin Richmond
Introducing: McCartney: A Life in Lyrics
Episode guests
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Quick takeaways
- The song "Back in the USSR" by Paul McCartney was a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back in the US" and served as a humorous way for the Beatles to poke fun at the pro-US sentiment in the UK while reflecting the shifting global dynamics.
- The Beatles' music was seen as dangerous by Russian authorities, highlighting the subversive nature of art and the role music plays as a beacon of freedom in resisting oppression and expressing dissent.
Deep dives
The Inspiration behind Back in the USSR
In this episode of the podcast McCartney A Life in Lyrics, Paul McCartney and Paul Muldoon discuss the inspiration behind the song Back in the USSR. They explore how the song turns the cultural and political world order on its head by depicting a Russian guy, glad to be back in the Soviet Union. McCartney explains that the song was a parody of Chuck Berry's Back in the US and reflects the shifting global dynamics and the band's desire to poke fun at the pro-US sentiment in the UK. The bridge of the song, influenced by the Beach Boys, humorously lists the territories of the former Soviet Union, drawing on references like Ray Charles' Georgia on my Mind. While the song has an upbeat rock and roll energy, the lyrics also convey a bittersweet undertone given the totalitarian state of the Soviet Union at the time.
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