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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” is about animal rights.
  • The tone of the song might undermine animal rights activism.
  • “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” appeared on the hugely successful The White Album.
The Beatles in black-and-white
The Beatles | Bettmann / Contributor

Paul McCartney really liked The Beatles’ “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” from The White Album. In addition, he said the tune only got better with age. Despite this, “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” could be seen as undermining the cause it’s supposed to promote.

Paul McCartney explained The Beatles’ ‘The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill’

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed crafting many of the songs from The White Album during The Beatles’ trip to Rishikesh, India. “I remember John singing ‘Bungalow Bill’ in Rishikesh,” he recalled. “This is another of his great songs, and it’s one of my favorites to this day because it stands for a lot of what I stand for now.

“‘Did you have to shoot that tiger?’ is its message,” he added. “‘Aren’t you a big guy? Aren’t you a brave man?’ I think John put it very well. Funnily enough, John wasn’t an overt animal activist, but I think by writing this song, he showed that his sentiments were very much that way.”

Why Paul McCartney felt the tune and some of The Beatles’ other songs aged so well

Paul discussed how “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” aged. “One of the nice things about Beatles songs is that, in many cases, they do seem to stand the test of time, and this is an example of one that’s getting better with time,” he opined.

“It’s becoming more and more relevant,” he added. “If you look at veal crating and listen to this song, or look at the hunting of nearly extinct species like tigers and rhinos, well, this is a very good song.”

Paul interpreted “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” as a song about animal rights. The song certainly sympathizes with animals in its depiction of a hunter. Despite this, “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” is performed like it’s a dark comedy. For this reason, “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” could be seen as trivializing animal abuse. On the other hand, many Beatles fans probably see the tune as a silly novelty song.

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How ‘The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill’ performed on the charts

“The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” was never a single, so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The tune appeared on The White Album, which topped the Billboard 200 for nine weeks. The album spent a total of 215 weeks on the chart.

According to The Official Charts Company, “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” did not chart in the United Kingdom either. Meanwhile, The White Album reached the top of the chart for eight weeks. The White Album stayed on the chart for 37 weeks.

“The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” wasn’t a hit, but Paul felt it had a good message.

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