Why Mick Jagger Made a Punk Song With Paul McCartney

At long last, Paul McCartney made a song with The Rolling Stones. Jagger explained why the song is a punk rock song. He also discussed the importance of the tune given the history of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger worked on a song with a legendary producer

During a 2023 interview with the CBC, Jagger discussed the origins of The Rolling Stones’ “Bite My Head Off.” The track was produced by Andrew Wyatt, the maestro behind songs like Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s “Shallow.” “Paul was in LA when we were recording, and he was supposed to work with Andy one week,” Jagger said. “Andy said, ‘I’m working on this record [Hackney Diamonds], and if it takes six months I’m gonna do nothing else.'”

Wyatt did not keep his promise. “Suddenly, we get to this one week and he says, ‘I forgot to tell you — I’m supposed to work with Paul this week,'” Jagger recalled. “So we worked out the schedule and [Wyatt] said, ‘Why don’t we get Paul to come in and play on something?'”

The song went in a direction many Paul fans and Rolling Stones fans might find surprising. “We suggested he played on this punk tune,” Jagger recalled. “I didn’t know how it was gonna work out, but he really rocked it and he loved doing it. He said, ‘It’s great playing with a band! Really enjoyable playing with a band.'”

What Mick Jagger said about the importance of making a song with Paul McCartney

A reporter told Jagger that “Bite My Head Off” means a lot in the context of The Beatles’ feud with The Rolling Stones. “Yeah, it does,” Jagger agreed. “And it’s fun. But it seems so natural, you know?”

Part of what makes The Beatles and The Rolling Stones so compelling is that they both covered a lot of musical ground. The bands delved into rock, blues, soul, country, psychedelic music, and other genres. It’s interesting that Paul decided to collaborate with The Rolling Stones on a punk song, considering that’s not his style, and it certainly wasn’t The Beatles’ style. The Rolling Stones, however, dipped their toes into punk rock during the Some Girls era.

How The Rolling Stones’ ‘Bite My Head Off’ performed on the charts

“Bite My Head Off” was not a single. It did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune appeared on 2023’s Hackney Diamonds, The Rolling Stones’ first record of original material since 2005’s A Bigger Bang. Hackney Diamonds, which is still on the charts, has reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for three weeks.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Bite My Head Off” did not chart in the United Kingdom either. On the other hand, Hackney Diamonds peaked at No. 1 in the U.K. for a single week. It has spent a total of four weeks on the chart so far.

“Bite My Head Off” is an unexpected collaboration but a welcome one.