I always wondered if the song. “Band on the Run”, was Paul McCartney’s attempt at making something like another “Magical Mystery Tour” or “Sgt. Pepper”? Also, it gives me images of The Monkees in a silly, “chase” scene, usually in fast motion, IIRC, from any one of their shows.
Was it meant to be a funny song? If not, what are they singing about? Surely, it is not just a band of thieves on the run. While “Jailor Man” and “Sailor Sam” may be anyone, what is meant by “the rabbit’s on the run”? Who’s “the Rabbit?”
As kids growing up in the 70’s, we always swore he was singing “Man on the Run”!
You know, I’ve read a lot of books about Paul McCartney and I’ve listened to a lot of interviews, and press conferences. I’ve even wathed the special Band on the Run DVD…
As far as I can tell, there is no explanation. Or the explanation is simply that he was telling a story about a band on a run…
Oh, and Wings wasn’t formed when he made Band on The Run. It was just him and Linda and a guy whose name escapes me, playing in a studio in Africa. Wings wasn’t formed until his second daughter, Stella, was born.
Here’s a bit of the story. From what I recall at the time, the title has to do with their attempted fun little “getaway” to Nigeria being somewhat less that ideal in reality. Lot’s of nasty people around stopping/checking them, etc.
Based upon nothing but my own imagination, I had long thought that song was a fix-up of four or five cute musical phrases that never grew into full songs.
Now I remember “more of the story.” Paul and Linda were absolutely hounded by the press back then. Followed/photographed everywhere. Nigeria was picked as an isolated enough place that maybe they could have a normal time.
That also led to the concept of the cover photo: celebs in the public spotlight.
But in Nigeria, a much nastier group of people were following them around.
my interpretation is that it’s “rabbits” not “rabbit’s”.
The rabbits are the band. (Band on the run, rabbits on the run) They running around like a bunch of scared rabbits.
Oh and my wife tells the story of when she was bored in class during high school and writing down song titles and suddenly hears her teacher say, “It’s Band on the Run, not Man on the Run”
The concept of rabbits running, or fleeing, or being on the run, was not original to the novel Watership Down. For Chrissakes, they’re prey animals! There have probably been literary references to this behavior for as long as there have been literary references!
John Updike’s novel Rabbit, Run, just for starters, was published in 1959 or '60. Well before Watership Down.
[QUOTE=Fiver]
The concept of rabbits running, or fleeing, or being on the run, was not original to the novel Watership Down
[QUOTE]
I wasn’t trying to imply that this was the case, Fiver. (By the way, are you named for the main character in ‘Watership Down?’) I was just pointing out that the book and the song were both popular at roughly the same time. I also said I had nothing to support the claim…
