Give Ireland Back to the Irish
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| "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Wings | ||
| Released | February 25, 1972 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | 1972 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Label | Apple Records | |
| Writer(s) | Paul and Linda McCartney | |
| Producer(s) | Paul and Linda McCartney | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Wings singles chronology | ||
| "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" (with Linda McCartney) (1971) |
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" (Wings) (1972) |
"Mary Had a Little Lamb"/"Little Woman Love" (with Wings) (1972) |
"Give Ireland Back to the Irish" is a Paul and Linda McCartney song written in response to the events of Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland on January 30, 1972.
The song was released on February 25, 1972 as a single by Wings, and it was the first recorded song by Wings to feature Irish guitarist Henry McCullough.
It was completely barred from media exposure in the United Kingdom, being banned by the BBC, Radio Luxembourg and the Independent Television Authority. On the BBC Radio 1 chart show Pick of the Pops, Alan Freeman had to refer to it as "a record by the group Wings".[1]
"From our point of view," said Paul McCartney, "it was the first time people questioned what we were doing in Ireland. It was so shocking. I wrote 'Give Ireland Back to the Irish', we recorded it and I was promptly 'phoned by the Chairman of EMI, Sir Joseph Lockwood, explaining that they wouldn't release it. He thought it was too inflammatory. I told him that I felt strongly about it and they had to release it. He said, 'Well it'll be banned', and of course it was. I knew 'Give Ireland Back to the Irish' wasn't an easy route, but it just seemed to me to be the time. All of us in Wings felt the same about it. But Henry McCullough's brother who lived in Northern Ireland was beaten up because of it. The thugs found out that Henry was in Wings."[2]
The song reached number 1 in the singles charts in the Republic of Ireland and Spain, and number 16 in the UK singles chart.
The B-side of the single is "Give Ireland Back to the Irish (Version)", an instrumental version of the A-side song.
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Notes
- ^ The seven ages of Paul McCartney
- ^ Lewisohn, Mark. Wingspan: Little Brown, 2002. ISBN 0-316-86032-8
