Back in the U.S.S.R.
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
"Back in the U.S.S.R." is a song by the English rock band the Beatles and the first track of the 1968 double album The Beatles (also known as the "White Album"). Written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership, the song is a parody of Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." and the Beach Boys' "California Girls". The lyrics subvert Berry's patriotic sentiments about the United States, as the narrator expresses relief upon returning home to the Soviet Union, formally the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
The Beatles recorded "Back in the U.S.S.R." as a three-piece after Ringo Starr temporarily left the group, in protest at McCartney's criticism of his drumming and the tensions that typified the sessions for the White Album. Instead, the other Beatles created a composite drum track from numerous takes. McCartney's singing was based on Jerry Lee Lewis, while the bridge features a Beach Boys–style celebration of girls from various parts of the USSR. The song opens and closes with a tape loop of an aircraft landing on a runway.
Released three months after the Warsaw Pact's invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Beatles' sympathetic portrayal of the USSR prompted condemnation in the West from both the New Left and the political right. In 1976, backed by "Twist and Shout", it was issued as a single to promote the compilation album Rock 'n' Roll Music. It peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and number 11 in Ireland. In 2003, McCartney performed the song in Moscow's Red Square. Elton John and Billy Joel have also released versions recorded during concerts in Russia.
