Sticking Out Of My Back Pocket: ‘Wanderlust'

The lastest ‘Sticking Out Of My Back Pocket’ takes a closer look at Paul’s song ‘Wanderlust’, the eighth track on solo album Tug Of War, which was reissued in 2015 as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection.

Recorded at Air Studios, London and produced by George Martin - Paul’s long-time collaborator, producer and friend - the track actually originated from an event which took place on a boat in the Virgin Islands, where Wings were in the middle of recordings forLondon Town.

Paul explains: “We’d been on one of the boats, and the captain had smelt some pot, and you know, we thought, ‘Well, we’re in the middle of the ocean, and we’re not harming anyone’.

“But he [the captain] was very uptight about it, and he basically asked us to leave. ‘Wanderlust’ was the name of the boat. So my song is [sings], ‘Light out Wanderlust’ – you know, we don’t want to be here – ‘Captain says they’ll be a bust.’ It’s all about this captain and him getting uptight about smelling some pot somewhere.”

Linda and Paul aboard ‘Wanderlust’, Virgin Islands, 1977

The track’s production has a cinematic feel thanks to the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and later also featured in the 1984 film, ‘Give My Regards To Broadstreet’.

Paul added: “…I enjoyed doing that track, and the brass ensemble was great; we did that back in England. They were fabulous, the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. I think, listening to the record again recently, I didn’t use the brass ensemble enough. They could have done more; they could have been more often in the song, instead of just the solo.”

Check out the full track below: