# Wings' Fans: Explain "Band on the Run" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2004, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085 "2004-04-09T01:43:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/21 "2004-04-09T21:30:40Z")
In my mind’s eye, the song was about a jailbreak. I can’t possibly be alone here. I thought the usage of “band” was like “band of mercenaries.” Haj ---
**Author:** ![Murcielago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Murcielago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Murcielago)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/22 "2004-04-09T21:51:10Z")
Lots of album info at [BandOnTheRun.com](http://www.bandontherun.com/). Paul quotes from the site: “It started off with ‘If I ever get out of here.’ That came from a remark George made at one of the Apple meetings. He was saying that we were all prisoners in some way, some kind of remark like that. “If we ever get out of here,” the prison bit, and I thought that would be a nice way to start an album…” “There were a lot of musicians at the time who’d come out of ordinary suburbs in the sixties and seventies and were getting busted. Bands like the Byrds, the Eagles–the mood amongst them was one of desperados. We were being outlawed for pot. It put us on the wrong side of the law” “So I just made up a story about people breaking out of prison. Structurally, that very tight little intro on “Band on the Run”–“Stuck inside these four walls”–led to a hole being blasted in the wall, and we get the big orchestra and then we’re off. We escape into the sun.” The album won a number of accolades and awards. Hell, even John Lennon said he thought it was great. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/23 "2004-04-09T22:32:33Z")
Shit, I always figured he was chasing a tab of acid with a few bong hits, and that was that. Not that it isn’t a fun song or anything, but I’ve never found the McCartney oeuvre to be a terribly rich mine for semiotics. I mean, sometimes, all it is is some people want to fill the world with pretty love songs. What’s wrong with that? I’d like to know. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/24 "2004-04-10T00:56:46Z")
> [@Loopydude](#): > > I mean, sometimes, all it is is some people want to fill the world with pretty love songs. What’s wrong with that? I’d like to know. I’ll tell you after I get the door. Someone’s knocking at the door, and ringing the bell. I must open the door, and let 'em in. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/25 "2004-04-10T01:06:49Z")
> [@Rico](#): > > I’ll tell you after I get the door. Someone’s knocking at the door, and ringing the bell. I must open the door, and let 'em in. Yep, better listen to what the man says… ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/26 "2004-04-10T01:08:01Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Yep, better listen to what the man says… …or you’ll be sorry, Uncle Albert. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/27 "2004-04-10T01:36:35Z")
I thought the major was a little lady suffragette ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/28 "2004-04-10T04:00:29Z")
I’m gonna have my temporary secretary transcribe this thread for me. Sir Rhosis ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/29 "2004-04-10T08:13:04Z")
> [@Sir Rhosis](#): > > I’m gonna have my temporary secretary transcribe this thread for me. > > Sir Rhosis With a little luck, your secretary will work it out and make the whole thing better! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/30 "2004-04-10T15:41:58Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > As kids growing up in the 70’s, we always swore he was singing “Man on the Run”! That’s funny – I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, and I always swore he was singing **“Ban on the Run”**. I thought they were singing about the brand of roll-on deodorant my mom used. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/31 "2004-04-10T16:09:08Z")
> [@tracer](#): > > That’s funny – I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, and I always swore he was singing **“Ban on the Run”**. > > I thought they were singing about the brand of roll-on deodorant my mom used. We now know the next great pop song to be bastardized in a commercial! ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/32 "2004-04-10T16:47:44Z")
Uh … I don’t think a company that makes roll-on deodorant would be very receptive to the image of their product being “on the run”. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2004, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/33 "2004-04-10T22:43:59Z")
Speaking of Paul and albums with “run” in the title. I walked by the very shop that had the window ad that inspired the “Run Devil Run” album title, right after the album’s release. But the actual phrase is different and the cover pic is not the same. Artistic license I guess… So in 28 years or so he’ll have to put out an album with “run” in the title 3 times and have another kid with his latest blonde wife. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/34 "2004-04-11T02:45:17Z")
Denny Laine… any relation to Penny? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/35 "2004-04-14T13:48:10Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > 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 wasn’t singling you out, either. Others seemed to be suggesting it as well. I took my screen name from the character, yes, but also from my stage name, which is Glenn Five. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/36 "2004-04-14T21:52:42Z")
Hmmm. I always thought the song had something to do with when he got busted for bringing pot into Japan, or some such thing (I don’t have the details fully in memory). Does the song predate his arrest? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/37 "2004-04-14T22:07:28Z")
> [@Malchats](#): > > Hmmm. I always thought the song had something to do with when he got busted for bringing pot into Japan, or some such thing (I don’t have the details fully in memory). Does the song predate his arrest? _Band on the Run_ - 1973 Arrested in Japan - 1980 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085/38 "2004-04-14T23:49:27Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > 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. And the song _Run Rabbit Run_ was immensely popular in Britain in the 1940’s and is still very well known today. It’s just the sort of nostalgic thing that Paul McCartney, Roger Waters et al might refer to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wings-fans-explain-band-on-the-run/239085.md?page=1)