"Heart of the Country" is a song written by Paul and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

from their album '' Ram'' released in 1971.

Origins

The song has simple acoustic tune with a heavy bass chorus, and an unusually mellow sound to the acoustic guitar that was achieved by tuning all of the strings a full step lower than standard pitch. The song is about a man searching for a farm in the middle of nowhere. The song reflects Paul's heading for the Scottish countryside to escape the headaches associated with the Beatles' break-up at the time.

Composition

The song is played in the key of D Minor at a tempo of 172.

Personnel

* Paul McCartney – lead vocals, bass guitar, guitar *

– backing vocals * Hugh McCracken – guitar * Denny Seiwell – drums (with brushes)

Reception

In a contemporary review for ''Ram'', Jon Landau of '' Rolling Stone'' gave "Heart of the Country" a negative review, calling it the album's "lowest point", and the song that "most clearly indicates 'Ramsfailures". Landau described the song as "an evenly paced, finger-picking styled tune, with very light jazz overtones, obviously intended as Paul's idea of "mellow."". However, Landau believed McCartney's lyrics about the country "ring false".

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

of AllMusic described the song as "an effortless folk-pop tune that ranks among cCartney'svery best songs". Erlewine also praises its "imaginative and gorgeous arrangement". In 2013, '' Rolling Stone'' rated "Heart of the Country" at number 26 in its list of Paul McCartney's best post-

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

songs.

Aftermath

McCartney and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

re-recorded the song, with Mark Ronson producing, in 2013 for a commercial featuring his late wife Linda's vegetarian recipe book. It was also included on '' The 7" Singles Box'' in 2022.

References

Paul McCartney songs Songs written by Paul McCartney 1970 songs Songs written by Linda McCartney Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Music published by MPL Music Publishing {{beatles-song-stub