About the track, Paul said: “Everyone’s a bit anti-all-that-banning, all that censorship.”
Paul McCartney performing on stage in 2021(Image: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
The Beatles were not afraid to cause controversy. In 1966 John Lennon famously declared that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus”, leading to plenty of backlash from Christians in America.
But their music also occasionally landed the band in hot water – with ‘I Am the Walrus’ and ‘A Day in the Life’ being among the songs banned by the BBC for the supposed references to drugs and the sexual content of their lyrics. This did not stop when the band went their separate ways.
Several tracks recorded by the former Beatles in their later careers were banned by certain radio operators. Among them was Paul McCartney’s 1972 hit ‘Hi, Hi, Hi’, which he wrote with wife Linda and recorded with Wings.
The song includes the lyrics: “We’re gonna get hi, hi, hi with the music on. Won’t say bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye ’til the night is gone.” It continues: “I’m gonna do it to you, gonna do it sweet banana, you’ll never give up. We’re gonna get hi, hi, hi, we’re going to get hi hi hi. We’re going to get hi, hi, hi in the midday sun, ooh baby.”
It was banned by the BBC, which believed its lyrics made reference to sex and drugs. The ban worked in Paul’s favour, however, as he said it gave the song added impetus in live gigs.
He explained in a later interview: “Yeah, well, the great laugh is when we go live, it makes a great announcement. You can say: ‘This one was banned!’ and everyone goes ‘Hooray!’
“The audience love it, you know. ‘This next one was banned’, and then you get raving, because everyone likes to. Everyone’s a bit anti-all-that-banning, all that censorship. Our crew, our generation, really doesn’t dig that stuff, as I’m sure you know.”
‘Hi, Hi, Hi’ topped the charts in Spain, peaked at five in the UK and at ten in the USA.