Paul McCartney Said 1 of His Solo Songs Is Meaningless But It’s Not
Paul McCartney has written some of the most meaningful pop songs of all time. However, he revealed one of his Wings hits had an utterly meaningless lyric. Despite this, Paul didn’t seem to understand the words he was using in the song.
Why 1 Paul McCartney song mentions ‘butter pie’
One of the most unusual songs in Paul’s 1970s catalog is “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.” The song’s instrumental changes tone several times and it might be the only tune to mention both a World War II admiral (William Halsey Jr.) and a dish called “butter pie.” During a 2021 interview from PaulMcCartney.com, Paul was asked if butter pies are real. In addition, he was asked of there was a meaning behind the lyric “the butter wouldn’t melt so I put it in the pie.”
“No, there’s no meaning behind it,” Paul replied. “Because I like surrealist art, I also like surrealist words. A great example of this is Lewis Carroll writing Alice in Wonderland — it’s a crazy thing, you’ve got a cat sitting in a tree that grins and talks, and you’ve got Alice falling down a hole and meeting the Red Queen, and so on. That whole tradition was something that I loved, and when I met John I learned that he loved it to.” Alice in Wonderland had an obvious influence on surreal Beatles songs like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
Butter pies are real
Paul related the lyrics of “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” to his interests as an artist. “I’d always liked writing love songs, ballads, and rock ‘n’ roll songs, but then one of my other little side interests was to invent surrealist stuff,” he said. “Admiral Halsey was someone I’d read about — he’s a character from American history — and I just liked the name.
“I was playing around with that and making up a fictional story, and I just ran into the words ‘and butter pie,'” he added. “Well, there’s no such thing as a butter pie, that I’ve ever heard of anyway. So, it was a surrealist image.” Despite Paul’s comments, there is a savory dish known as butter pie that is filled with potatoes, onions, and butter. It’s interesting that England’s most famous vegetarian is unaware of an English vegetarian dish.
‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’ was a huge deal for Paul McCartney’s career
Paul released “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” as a single. The tune topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a week, lasting on the chart for 13 weeks in total. It became Paul’s first chart-topper in the United States after The Beatles broke up. “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” appeared on the album Ram. That record reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 and lasted on the chart for 42 weeks.
The Official Charts Company reports that “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” did not chart in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, Ram was a hit there, reaching No. 1 for two of its 24 weeks on the U.K. chart.
“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” might not be the most meaningful song in Paul’s catalog, but it proved he could make hit songs without the Fab Four.
