We ought to remember how Paul McCartney called Northern Ireland the North of Ireland before it was cool. He says as much with Give Ireland Back to the Irish, a demonstrably twee effort which has the backdrop of bloody warfare and generations of shocking intervention from England where it was not needed. This is not a deep dive into the history of The Troubles, though. Give Ireland Back to the Irish is hardly the song to do so. Macca and his post-Beatles band, Wings, were hardly going to offer a Come out Ye Black and Tans-type experience. But they are closer to The Wolfe Tones in spirit here. That sentimentality from McCartney has been lost to the measure of his songwriting as just a bit of fun. People forget his best works are often tipped with reflection, a love of a newfound domesticity or, in this instance, political change. All the greats are moved by it, but only a few can make it sound so ridiculous.
You would be forgiven for thinking McCartney had delivered this song in the same manner as Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey. He does not. This is straight-shooting rock which has neither the patience nor need to hide its political message. McCartney tries to play both sides, a tricky pitch when sectarianism and unionism are at play. But Wings provides good cover for the Let It Be hitmaker who tries to scramble a sort of “would you not do the same as they are” message. It’s a comparison which would work if there were a level-headedness about the people who subject the Irish to decades of torture. McCartney knows not to poke the bear too much because a defensive reaction only has people dig deeper into their trenches. Whether placating them with an electric guitar solo is the route through remains to be seen, but it’s a song that has become easy to mock. But look at the context of the song and what it is on paper.
This is an OBE holder, a huge cutting of British rock royalty, calling out his beloved country because of their atrocities overseas. Consider also the other activists who came out of music in the decades to follow Give Ireland Back to the Irish. Elvis Costello’s Tramp Down the Dirt and Jarvis Cocker’s Running the World had similar sentiment. Imagine what you can do if you unite against the hate and vitriol. McCartney hammering out the title track remains a tad unconvincing though, not because of the message, but because of his general musicality around this period. Pre-Band on the Run Wings was always a bit of a rough listen because it was McCartney jamming with session musicians and trying to forget about how great Ram is. Instrumentally, it’s a bit of a blowout for Give Ireland Back to the Irish but without those steady guitar riffs and heavy bits of percussion, we’d be left with the right message but the wrong attitude to deliver it with.
McCartney has a bit of a PR nightmare on his hands, not because of his thoughts on the hopeful union of Ireland and the North of Ireland, but because it’s hard to cut through his twee songwriting. He delivers a love letter to both the Union Jack and the Irish people, while giving both a slap on the wrist in the same way a substitute teacher would try to calm a classroom. It’s hardly a reaction readily made for such a severe part of history, but at least there is a reaction all the same. Hearing McCartney write up a protest song that still has political relevance today is a bit of a surprise, and he hangs in there well enough with Give Ireland Back to the Irish.
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