What does Band on the Run mean?

Paul McCartney: Band on the Run Meaning

Album cover for Band on the Run album cover

Song Released: 1974


Band on the Run Lyrics

Stuck inside these four walls, sent inside forever,
Never seeing no one nice again like you,
Mama you, mama you.
If I ever get out of here,
Thought of giving it all away
To a registered charity.
All I need is a pint a day
If I ever get out...

  1. anonymous
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    Feb 25th 2023 !⃝

    Sad, my daughter died in jail! Never really even knew the lyrics of song. Woke up one day and I had this song in my head. Just was a very strange exsperiance!

  2. anonymous
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    Jan 29th 2019 !⃝

    A guy who got a life sentence and is breaking out of the joint. There are some outer space comments in here.

  3. anonymous
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    Aug 9th 2017 !⃝

    Paul is dead! Since 1966. Live concerts stopped,too risky


    . The Beatles, in 1966 were at the height of their fame and had earned millions of dollars for alot of people and guaranteed to earn more. Paul McCartneys unexpected death would leave the Beatles incomplete and therefore an unsaleable product, enter William Campbell, the answer to keep the Beatles going. William Campbell would cease to exist. No records of his existence after 1966. "Never seeing no one nice again, like you mama." William Campbell would have to actually become Paul McCartney. His former life: his parents, his siblings his friends and anyone who was associated with William Campbell would have to never have existed. The reality of committing this type of of fraud on a world wide scale must have been overwhelming when the acknowledgment of the extent of his crime was realized. " The undertaker", I believe is referring to the funeral of the real Paul McCartney,"seeing no one else had come" no one came to pay their last respects and the undertaker is saddened by this. This is relatively my feelings on the subject of Sir Paul McCartneys song "Band on the run." I believe at the time it was written William Campbell, understandably, missed his real life and his real mother and would have given all the millions he had made impersonating Paul McCartney to a registered charity if he could just go back to life before committing such a selfish crime.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  4. anonymous
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    Aug 9th 2017 !⃝

    Paul is dead! Since 1966. Live concerts stopped,too tisk. The Beatles, in 1966 were at the height of their fame and had earned millions of dollars for alot of people and guaranteed to earn more. Paul McCartneys unexpected death would leave the Beatles incomplete and therefore an unsaleable product, enter William Campbell, the answer to keep the Beatles going. William Campbell would cease to exist. No records of his existence after 1966. "Never seeing no one nice again, like you mama." William Campbell would have to actually become Paul McCartney. His former life: his parents, his siblings his friends and anyone who was associated with William Campbell would have to never have existed. The reality of committing this type of of fraud on a world wide scale must have been overwhelming when the acknowledgment of the extent of his crime was realized. " The undertaker", I believe is referring to the funeral of the real Paul McCartney,"seeing no one else had come" no one came to pay their last respects and the undertaker is saddened by this. This is relatively my feelings on the subject of Sir Paul McCartneys song "Band on the run." I believe at the time it was written William Campbell, understandably, missed his real life and his real mother and would have given all the millions he had made impersonating Paul McCartney to a registered charity if he could just go back to life before committing such a selfish crime.

  5. anonymous
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    May 17th 2017 !⃝

    "Sailor Sam" was a 1950s radio detective show:
    http://www.greatdetectives.net/detectives/religious-dramas-radio-part/
    "The rabbit's on the run", I believe is referring to the fact that he was actually in the rabbit suit on the cover of Magical Mystery Tour.

  6. kooljohn176
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    Mar 1st 2016 !⃝

    A great and thoughtful song by Sir PAUL McCARTNEY after the breakup of the BEATLES who was still thinking out of the box in a four wall room that can feel and became a jail to a now new and separate individual that is still thinking about the other Three and wondering if any of them feels the same. Especially John where he got himself in the waiting to be in the born again feeling to come out with new ideas for music and how to love Yoko even more or to leave her altogether. 'Cause now seperatley they all became like a rag tag band with different members of their own and also a ''Band On The Run'' from each other who were the Beatles that exploded within time to crash and fall into the sun ''symbolically speaking'' to be illuminated individually towards pursuing their separate ways to entertaine us with their music that spread out differently towards Sailor Sam that wanted to search out everyone of them.

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 17th 2013 !⃝

    This song to me is linked to the beatles 'paul is dead' conspiracy. The intro refers to being stuck in the lie, no longer being able to see his old friends or family and wishing he could give it all up for his old life as william campbell back.

    The next verse talks about the car crash paul died in " Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the sun"

    The next verse refers to the fact the death was kept secret and no one was allowed to go to the funeral "Well, the undertaker drew a heavy sigh seeing no one else had come"

    finaly this next line points to the fact they can never reveal the truth "In the town they're searching for us every where, but we never w I'll be found"

  8. anonymous
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    Nov 4th 2012 !⃝

    This song is about the trip the Beatles made to the Philippines. It has been documented in the Anthology and numerous other films. Also, Paul explained it in a book (don't remember which one).

  9. anonymous
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    Sep 30th 2012 !⃝

    It can't be about him getting busted in Japan as this happened after the song was written. No idea what it's about, maybe a mini rock opera or something. One of his best post Beatles attempts though.

  10. anonymous
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    Jun 14th 2012 !⃝

    I think its about a group of guys trying to escape from prison and succeeding, kinda of like paul escaping from the beatles at the time.

  11. Ame
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    May 21st 2012 !⃝

    First off, um, yes, they do see the rumors that Paul is Dead so ridiculous that they don't want to waste their time on them. That's exactly it.

    Also, Paul McCartney cannot see his mother because she died when he was very young, not because his fame somehow keeps him from it.

    Anyway, this song is as puzzling as ever to me, but I like the pot interpretation best thus far.

  12. anonymous
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    May 11th 2011 !⃝

    That's how the Beatles kept selling records. They did it by having fans look for "clues" in the songs and on the album covers. They are the ones who did this and they love the money that it brought them in. It was all a game they were playing with their fans. The last thing they wanted to do was stop it!

  13. anonymous
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    Dec 17th 2010 !⃝

    When I first heard that song I was thinking that McCartney has no ability to write lyrics; that he was looking through a thesaurus to find words that rhyme. But the song makes sense when you consider that he is not really Paul McCartney. Here is some of that song:

    Stuck inside these four walls,
    Sent inside forever,
    Never seeing no one
    Nice again like you,
    Mama you, mama you.

    Why is he singing about being stuck inside something? Is he stuck forever in the role of Paul McCartney, never able to see his own mother?

    If I ever get out of here,
    Thought of giving it all away
    To a registered charity.
    All I need is a pint a day
    If I ever get out of here.

    If he ever gets that where? His role as Paul McCartney? And what will he give away to a charity? The millions of dollars in made in his false life?

    It sounds like Paul is saying, "Help! I don't want the money any longer! I want a real life!"

    Well, the undertaker drew a heavy sigh
    Seeing no one else had come,

    Whose funeral is he referring to? Was Paul McCartney's undertaker sad that nobody came to Paul McCartney's funeral? Or was he talking about his own fake death? In order to become McCartney, he first had to arrange a fake death for himself.

    One of the amazing aspects of the rumors of Paul McCartney's death is that they have been going on for decades, but McCartney and the other Beatles do nothing to stop it.

    What would you do if Internet sites were claiming that you were dead, and that some imposter was pretending to be you? Wouldn't you be tempted to tell those sites to stop it? Some people would threaten the sites with lawsuits if they did not stop making those ridiculous remarks.

    Paul McCartney does nothing about the rumors that he is dead. He could so easily put the rumors to rest by giving a sample of his hair for a DNA analysis. His DNA should match his brother and his other relatives. But the Beatles are strangely quiet about these terrible accusations. Why? Do they consider the rumors so ridiculous that they don't want to waste their time with them?

  14. anonymous
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    Feb 3rd 2009 !⃝

    The song is about Paul getting busted for trying to smuggle pot into Japan and got caught. He loves pot and will smoke it till he dies. He grows his own.
    poulton@eriecoast.com


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