Mull of Kintyre

Words and Music by PAUL McCARTNEY
Releaased as a single by WINGS (1977)

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Far have I traveled and much have I seen
Dark distant mountains with valleys of green.
Past painted deserts the sunsets on fire
As he carries me home to the mull of kintyre.

Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Sweep through the heather like deer in the glen
Carry me back to the days I knew then.
Nights when we sang like a heavenly choir
Of the life and the time of the mull of kintyre.

Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Smiles in the sunshine
And tears in the rain
Still take me back to where my memories remain
Flickering embers growing higher and higher
As they carry me back to the mull of kintyre

Mull of kintyre
Oh mist rolling in from the sea,
My desire is always to be here
Oh mull of kintyre

Return to Tales from a Draughty old Fen: Top ten songs about places

You've got to hide your love away

Words and music by
JOHN LENNON AND PAUL McCARTNEY
Performed by THE BEATLES (1965)

John Lennon wrote this for the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein after he showed up bruised, having been beaten up by gay-bashers in London over the weekend. Perhaps it was also an apology for his having reduced Epstein to tears by calling him a "gay Jewboy".

Here I stand head in hand
Turn my face to the wall
If she's gone I can't go on
Feeling two foot small
Everywhere people stare
each and every day
I can see them laugh at me
And I hear them say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away

How can I even try?
I can never win
Hearing them, seeing them
In the state I'm in
How could she say to me
"Love will find a way?"
Gather round all you clowns
Let me hear you say

Hey you've got to hide your love away
Hey you've got to hide your love away

In my life

Words and music by
PAUL McCARTNEY AND JOHN LENNON
From the BEATLES album RUBBER SOUL (1965)

This was sung by John Lennon, but came towards the end of the time when Lennon and McCartney were genuinely writing songs together, which may explain the subtlety of the some of the lyrics. I think of this song every time I return to Glasgow; everybody's a bit older (including me), somebody else has died, the landscape - especially of my old area in the East End - has changed; but there's still the memories of life and love among the ashes of areas forgotten for generations by planners and politicians.

There are places I remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

In my life I love you more

Let it Be

Music and lyrics by
PAUL McCARTNEY AND JOHN LENNON
From the BEATLES album LET IT BE (1970)
and LET IT BE NAKED (2003)

This has been one of my favourite songs for decades, and seems to have followed me round during my life. Paul McCartney wrote it in memory of his mother, Mary, but there is an undeniable Gospel-style arrangement, and the midde-verse seems to be a meditation on a line of the prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes, prièz pour ceux qui aiment et sont partis - pray for those who love and are parted.

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be.

Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

And when the night is cloudy,
There is still a light that shines on me,
Shine on until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.

There will be an answer, let it be.
Let it be, let it be,
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be