Skip to main content

Paul McCartney was trying to think like a country boy when he wrote The Beatles‘ “Mother Nature’s Son.” He grew up on the outskirts of Liverpool, close to the country. So he formed some of his real-life experiences in nature into the tune.

Paul McCartney in a white jacket in 1968.
Paul McCartney, writer of ‘Mother Nature’s Son’ | Tony Evans/Timelapse Library Ltd./Getty Images

The former Beatle said his childhood was split between playing in the urban streets of Liverpool and the countryside nearby

In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that he knew what “living on the edge” meant because he and his family literally lived on the edge of Liverpool. His mother was a midwife, and anytime a new housing estate was built, the council would move her and the family.

Back then, there were many building sites where all the new developments were going. Paul and his brother Michael used to play on them, which was dangerous, but they didn’t care. The construction sites were their playground.

Then, about a mile away was the rural Lancashire, and “it was as if you’d fallen off the end of the Earth,” Paul wrote. It was countryside like out of a fairytale. When he wasn’t playing on the urban building sites, destitute of nature, Paul would take walks into the woods in the rural countryside. It was the best of both worlds.

Paul wrote that he was lucky to access nature so easily. It was a privilege and a joy.

Paul McCartney recalled his childhood when he wrote The Beatles’ ‘Mother Nature’s Son’

Years later, in 1968, Paul wrote “Mother Nature’s Son” while recalling those memories of being in nature. He lived in London, another urban city, and imagined seeing birds and wildlife. He tried to think like a country boy. Then, he essentially embodied Mother Nature’s son.

Paul wrote, “‘Sit beside a mountain stream’ – which it wouldn’t have been; it would have been a field stream or a woodland stream. ‘See her waters rise / Listen to the pretty / Sound of music as she flies. I was very fascinated by streams, and still am.

“I just like to see them burrowing their way to the sea, or wherever it is they go. ‘My field of grass’ was a definite nod to marijuana, because at that time we were all smoking pot and, as you may recall, I always enjoyed sticking in any little reference to that.”

Related

Paul McCartney Based The Beatles’ ‘Michelle’ on His Memory of Singing Faux French Songs at Parties

Rishikesh, India, and Nat King Cole also inspired Paul McCartney on “Mother Nature’s Son’

The nature he experienced as a child wasn’t the only thing that inspired Paul on “Mother Nature’s Son.” The Beatles’ time in Rishikesh, India, at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram also inspired him. After years of touring and going, going, going, The Beatles craved the quiet of nature. The private bubble of the ashram gave them that.

Paul also said Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” helped him form “Mother Nature’s Son.” He wrote it at his father’s home in Liverpool while in his folk-singing “California” mindset. However, the terrain was Speke, in Liverpool, and, later on, Scotland, where he had a farm.

“Swaying daisies, buttercups – it was memories of summer in the beautiful fields. This is a love song – a love song to the natural world,” Paul wrote. We all know Paul loves to write his love songs. It doesn’t matter who they’re directed at.

Best in Entertainment