The Beatles Song That Was Originally Written for a Different Artist

Paul McCartney wrote hundreds of songs for The Beatles and tons more in his solo career. He also lent his talents to other artists, giving them songs that possibly led to hits. One famous Beatles song was intended for another artist, but McCartney reclaimed it for the band after it was never used. 

Paul McCartney wrote a Beatles song as a Beach Boys parody

“Back in the U.S.S.R” debuted on 1968’s The White Album. The song was written by Paul McCartney as a parody of Chuck Berry’s “Born in the U.S.A.” and The Beach Boys’ “California Girls.” In the book The Beatles Encyclopedia: Everything Fab Four, McCartney said he wrote the song as a Beach Boys parody and also threw in a reference to Berry’s song. 

“I wrote that as a kind of Beach Boys parody,” Paul remembered. “And ‘Back in the U.S.A.’ was a Chuck Berry song, so it kinda took off from there. I just liked the idea of Georgia girls and talking about places like the Ukraine as if they were California, you know?”

McCartney said he also wanted to build a bridge with Soviet Beatles fans amidst tensions between the U.K. and the Soviet Union. 

“It was also hands across the water, which I’m still conscious of,” he added. “‘Cuz they like us out there, even though the bosses in the Kremlin may not. The kids do.”

‘Back in the U.S.S.R was written for another artist

In an interview with Goldmine magazine, Allan Kozinn, author of The McCartney Legacy: Volume 1, 1969-73, revealed that McCartney wrote “Back in the U.S.S.R” for Twiggy. Twiggy is a model, actor, and singer who was friends with the singer-songwriter in the 1960s. McCartney gave her the song for a TV special, but she never used it. So, McCartney took the song back and recorded it with The Beatles. 

“Early in 1968, Twiggy was going to film a special for Granada TV called Twiggy in Russia,” Kozinn said. “She asked Paul for a song, and he gave her “Back in the U.S.S.R.” But the special was never completed, so Paul used the song himself, on The Beatles (aka ‘The White Album’).”

McCartney wrote another song for Twiggy that hasn’t been officially recorded

Twiggy and McCartney were good friends and continued to work together after The Beatles broke up in 1970. McCartney wrote another song for Twiggy called “Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance.” The song was meant for a movie starring Twiggy that never got made. So, Paul McCartney performed the song with Wings live in 1973, but it was never officially recorded. 

“Paul and Twiggy were close friends; in fact, when Linda moved to London, Paul introduced her to Twiggy, who became Linda’s first close friend there,” Kozinn revealed. “He wrote other things for her as well, most notably ‘Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance,’ which she never used — it was for a film that didn’t get made — so Paul performed it in the James Paul McCartney TV special in 1973. He has never recorded it formally.”