Helen Wheels (song)

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Album This song officially appears on the Helen Wheels / Country Dreamer 7" Single.

Timeline This song has been officially released in 1973

Song facts

From Wikipedia:

“Helen Wheels” is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings. The song was named after Paul and Linda McCartney’s Land Rover, which they nicknamed “Hell on Wheels“.

Release

The single was released prior to Band on the Run and was not included on the original UK release of the album. However, Capitol Records vice president of promotion Al Coury persuaded McCartney to include it on the American release. The song peaked at number 10 in the United States on 12 January 1974 and at number 12 in the United Kingdom charts.

In the book Paul McCartney In His Own Words published in 1976, McCartney said:

“Helen Wheels is our land rover. It’s a name we gave to our land rover, which is a trusted vehicle that gets us around Scotland. It takes us up to the Shetland Islands and down to London. The song starts off in Glasgow, and it goes past Carlisle, goes to Kendal, Liverpool, Birmingham and London. It’s the route coming down from our Scottish farm to London, so it’s really the story of the trip down. Little images along the way. Liverpool is on the West coast of England, so that is all that means.”

From AllMusic:

Man critics and pop fans wrote Paul McCartney off as a mere purveyor of sugary pop in the 1970’s due to hits like “Silly Love Songs” but a close look at his work from this era reveals he also recorded several bracing rockers. One of the best was “Helen Wheels,” a raucous 1973 single that was added to American pressings of Band On The Run. The lyrics were inspired by Paul McCartney’s land rover and pay homage to Chuck Berry’s travelling-themed rockers like “The Promised Land” as they describe a trip from Scotland to England on the M-6 motorway: “M6, south down to Liverpool/Where they play the west coast sound/Sailor Sam, he came from Birmingham/But he never will be found.” This narrative is pumped up by an exciting melody that builds from swinging, breathlessly paced verses into a shout-along chorus that underlines the phrase “Helen – hell on wheels” with go-for-broke enthusiasm. McCartney raises the excitement level even higher on his recording of “Helen Wheels” with a gutsy arrangement that marries snarling electric guitars to a shuffling, ska-styled beat. McCartney wails over the top of this driving sound with an abandon reminiscent of his early Beatles, adding the ideal final touch to make it a fun rocker. As a result, “Helen Wheels” became a top-10 hit for McCartney. It did simarly well around the world and stands alongside “Jet” and “Junior’s Farm” as one of McCartney’s finest rockers from this era.

Paul McCartney in "Conversations With McCartney", by Paul Du Noyer:

I like that because it’s a British road song and there’s not many of those around. It’s always Route 66. How many songs have got Carlisle in them? And Birmingham, not Brimingham, Alabama. The M6… Linda loved Scotland. I still love setting off in London, going up the motorway, and you see the land change. It’s like going all the way through America. We always cheer as we go over the border then around Loch Lomond. It’s got a lot of memories for me, that Land Rover with everything in the back, dogs, kids, us all up at the front, and me, driving on this epic journey.

Conversations with McCartney • Paul du Noyer

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From GQ Magazine, August 2020 – Photo from Mary McCartney : “[Helen Wheels is] the old Land Rover which we used to drive up to Scotland in when we were kids. To me, that’s part of my childhood, so I was like, ‘Let’s get that out.’ It’s from the early 1970s; those kind of cars are made to last. It’s not necessarily the most comfortable thing to drive around in – it’s quite bumpy – but I love it.”

Last updated on August 5, 2020

Lyrics

Said farewell to my last hotel
It was never much kind of abode,
Glasgow town never brought me down
When I was heading out on the road,
Carlisle city never looked so pretty
And the Kendal freeway's fast.
Slow down driver, want to stay alive
I want to make this journey last

Helen - Hell on wheels
Ain't nobody else gonna know the way she feels
Helen - Hell on wheels
And they never gonna take her away.

M6 south down to Liverpool
Where they play the west coast sound
Sailor Sam he came from Birmingham
But he never will be found.
Doing fine when a London sign
Greets me like a long lost friend,
Mr Motor won't you check her out,
She's got to take me back again.

Helen - Hell on wheels
Ain't nobody else gonna know the way she feels
Helen - Hell on wheels
And they never gonna take her away.

Got no time for a rum and lime
I wanna get my right foot down
Shake some dust off of this old bus
I gotta get her out of town
Spend the day upon the motorway
Where the carburettors blast
Slow down driver, wanna stay alive,
I want to make this journey last.

Helen - Hell on wheels
Ain't nobody else gonna know the way she feels
Helen - Hell on wheels
And they never gonna take her away