- Album This song officially appears on the Young Boy #2 EP.
- Timeline This song has been recorded in 1987
- Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1987 (Paul McCartney was 45 years old)
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
Mar 20, 1987
Other songs produced by Phil Ramone
Officially appears on Once Upon A Long Ago / Back On My Feet
Officially appears on All The Best! (UK version)
Officially appears on Beautiful Night #1

Unreleased song

Unreleased song
Officially appears on Beautiful Night #2

Unreleased song
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Song facts
“Atlantic Ocean” is a song written and recorded in 1987 during the sessions with producer Phil Ramone. It was released 10 years after, as the B-Side of the “Young Boy” single.
What about the dance track “Atlantic Ocean”. Paul is famous, or infamous with some folks, for his fascination with dance tracks.
Yeah. It was one of those things where we were messing around with percussion loops and started with just straight backbeat from an old drum machine and then he started playing shakers and stuff and didn’t even play the bass part until the end.
So that one was written in the studio?
Yeah, he had some… he would just sing a riff like “Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean” and then he would jump and bars and bars of music would go by. A week later maybe we’d be sitting around the breakfast table and be talking about something comes from an island and maybe they go from one place in Africa to another island, and the music continues, and he had a great idea. I kept saying what a video it would make. I still think it’s a terrific song.
Phil Ramone, remembering the 1987 sessions with Paul McCartney – Interview in Beatlefan N°119, July / August 1999
“Atlantic Ocean” was included in the 2020 reissue of “Flaming Pie” but was not remastered.
Last updated on June 26, 2022
Lyrics
Uh!
Hit it!
Uh!
Hit it out!
Stolen black man, fam'ly lost,
Packed as cargo, ship was tossed,
Now survives to count the cost.
He feels the rhythm of the atlantic ocean.
The rhythm of the atlantic ocean.
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean.
The rhythm.
Uh, uh, uh, uh-uh
British pirate ruled the sea
In trinidad to bimini
Now he has eternity to feel
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, the rhythm.
Ocean liners come and go
Sending sailors to and fro
Whale and dolphin down below
Listen to the rhythm.
Foreign artists stows away,
Wants to reach the usa,
Lives to paint another day.
And feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Listen to the rhythm.
Off the bus from penny lane,
Young musicians took a plane,
Got invited back again .
Uh, uh, uh,
To feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Uh, feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, uh-uh.
Yeah, yeah
Yeah.
The rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm.
Uh uh uh-uh-uh
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Yeah, feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
I feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, oh-oh, of the atlantic ocean, ooh.
Feel the rhythm, oh-oh, of the atlantic ocean, oh-oh-oh.
Uh-
Doo, doo, doo.
Ocean liners come and go
Sending sailors to and fro
Whale and dolphins down below.
Aah -
Foreign artist stows away,
Wants to reach the usa,
Lives to paint another day.
And feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
They feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, oh-oh, yeah, the atlantic ocean, uh-uh,
Yeah, feel the rhythm oh-oh, of the atlantic ocean, uh-uh-ooh.
Ooh -
Hey-hey, yeah -
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, woh-oh-oh, of the atlantic ocean.
Doo-doo-doo-doo -
Feel the rhythm, oh-oh, of the atlantic ocean, oh-oh,
Yeah, feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
I feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
I feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
I feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Yeah, i feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
I feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, feel the rhythm, of the atlantic ocean, atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, feel the rhythm, of the atlantic ocean, atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm, feel the rhythm, of the atlantic ocean, atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Yeah,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean,
Feel the rhythm of the atlantic ocean.
Officially appears on
EP • Released in 1997
6.25 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
- Jon Jacobs :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Ramone :
- Producer
- Steve Lyon :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Picket :
- Keyboards
- Louis Jardim :
- Percussion
- Stuart Elliott :
- Drums
- Martin Barre :
- Electric guitar
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 1987
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flaming Pie - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2020
6.25 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
- Jon Jacobs :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Ramone :
- Producer
- Steve Lyon :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Picket :
- Keyboards
- Louis Jardim :
- Percussion
- Stuart Elliott :
- Drums
- Martin Barre :
- Electric guitar
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 1987
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Bootlegs
Unofficial album • Released in 1995
1:48 • Radio show • A1 • Short edit for the Oobu Joobu radio show
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
- Jon Jacobs :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Ramone :
- Producer
- Steve Lyon :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Picket :
- Keyboards
- Louis Jardim :
- Percussion
- Stuart Elliott :
- Drums
- Martin Barre :
- Electric guitar
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 1987
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Unofficial album • Released in 2000
6:51 • Rough mix • A2 • This alternate mix contains a different vocal track than the final released version.
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
- Jon Jacobs :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Ramone :
- Producer
- Steve Lyon :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Picket :
- Keyboards
- Louis Jardim :
- Percussion
- Stuart Elliott :
- Drums
- Martin Barre :
- Electric guitar
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 1987
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Unofficial album
6:49 • Rough mix • A2 • This alternate mix contains a different vocal track than the final released version.
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
- Jon Jacobs :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Ramone :
- Producer
- Steve Lyon :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Picket :
- Keyboards
- Louis Jardim :
- Percussion
- Stuart Elliott :
- Drums
- Martin Barre :
- Electric guitar
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 1987
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Unofficial album • Released in 2000
6:26 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
- Jon Jacobs :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Ramone :
- Producer
- Steve Lyon :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Picket :
- Keyboards
- Louis Jardim :
- Percussion
- Stuart Elliott :
- Drums
- Martin Barre :
- Electric guitar
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 1987
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Flowers In The Dirt - Ultimate Archive Collection
Unofficial album • Released in 2015
6:47 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Bass, Electric guitar, Keyboards, Maracas, Percussion, Producer, Vocals
- Jon Jacobs :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Ramone :
- Producer
- Steve Lyon :
- Recording engineer
- Phil Picket :
- Keyboards
- Louis Jardim :
- Percussion
- Stuart Elliott :
- Drums
- Martin Barre :
- Electric guitar
- Session Recording:
- Mar 20, 1987
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Live performances
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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