| rdfs:comment | - "Back in the U.S.S.R." is a song in The Beatles: Rock Band. It is contained in the 1967-1968 Abbey Road section of the story. It is the first track on the first disc of The Beatles's self-titled 1968 studio album. It was written by Paul McCartney. McCartney also performed lead vocals.
- Back in the U.S.S.R. is the opening track of the Beatles' self-titled album, and was written and sung by Paul McCartney (credited Lennon/McCartney). It was written by McCartney to sound like a Beach Boys song. This is most obvious around the line "The Ukraine girls really knock me out." In his 1984 interview with Playboy, McCartney stated that the song's title was "took off" from Chuck Berry's song "Back in the U.S.A.".
- The song, which opens and closes with the sounds of a jet aircraft being stolen, refers to a "dreadful" flight back to the U.S.S.R. from Alfred Ely Beach in the United States, on board an Italian aeroplane while eating chop suey and playing cards with the Prime Minister of Canada. Propelled throughout by McCartney's somber, funeral-like piano playing and the sound of dead guitar strings, the lyrics tell of the singer's great happiness on returning home, where "in Soviet Russia, Moscow girls sing YOU". He also looks forward to hearing the sound of "ding-dongs springing out".
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| abstract | - The song, which opens and closes with the sounds of a jet aircraft being stolen, refers to a "dreadful" flight back to the U.S.S.R. from Alfred Ely Beach in the United States, on board an Italian aeroplane while eating chop suey and playing cards with the Prime Minister of Canada. Propelled throughout by McCartney's somber, funeral-like piano playing and the sound of dead guitar strings, the lyrics tell of the singer's great happiness on returning home, where "in Soviet Russia, Moscow girls sing YOU". He also looks forward to hearing the sound of "ding-dongs springing out". Initially, the other Beatles were against recording the song (including Ringo Starr, who was absent at the time due to a dispute with McCartney about the location of his favourite pair of trousers), due to the nonsensical lyrics and the depressing melody. The controversial theme of the song was also a subject of debate; reportedly, John Lennon threw a stapler at McCartney shouting "Only I am allowed to write controversial songs! You go back to your granny-style and forget about this song!" George Harrison was also upset by the song, claiming in an interview that "[McCartney] wrote it specifically to steal the spotlight from [Harrison's] only four songs on the album, at least one of which would've been paid great attention to." Eventually, the matter was settled when McCartney, out of spite, recorded virtually the entire song by himself, with Lennon and Harrison begrudgingly recording backing vocals later on. After returning from his self-imposed isolation, Starr bluntly commented on the song by calling it "junk." McCartney soon wrote a song inspired by that comment called "Junk (In the Trunk)". It was considered for the album, but it was instead released on his debut solo album McCartney: Pissed Off. The title of the song, which was actually written in 1965, was originally "Back in the U.S. of A", a title that was stolen from a Chuck Berry song. However, according to McCartney, "some wanker decided to cross out the original title and rewrite it as that for some sick joke. I bet it was Ringo, that damn merry prankster." He then let out a spew of Russian curse words. However, when in the recording studio, McCartney decided that the changed title sounded better, and he decided to change some of the lyrics to fit the theme. Another speculated reason for the title was McCartney's recent motorcycle injury, which caused him not only to die but to forget why certain things are taboo. Others speculate that the title was changed due to a threatened lawsuit by Berry's music publisher, Morrie "Lawsuit" Levy. The song has been described by its writer as a pastiche of The Beach Boys. After hearing this song, Beach Boy member Brian Wilson reportedly shot himself in the face sixteen times.
- "Back in the U.S.S.R." is a song in The Beatles: Rock Band. It is contained in the 1967-1968 Abbey Road section of the story. It is the first track on the first disc of The Beatles's self-titled 1968 studio album. It was written by Paul McCartney. McCartney also performed lead vocals.
- Back in the U.S.S.R. is the opening track of the Beatles' self-titled album, and was written and sung by Paul McCartney (credited Lennon/McCartney). It was written by McCartney to sound like a Beach Boys song. This is most obvious around the line "The Ukraine girls really knock me out." In his 1984 interview with Playboy, McCartney stated that the song's title was "took off" from Chuck Berry's song "Back in the U.S.A.".
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