Salesman Saint

“Salesman Saint” is a track from the album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane“, released in 2026.

[This song] is about his parents as he pictures them during World War II — his dad, the salesman of the title (and a fireman during the war, putting out blazes after German bombings), and the woman known to the world as “mother Mary,” a midwife and the titular saint.

This is easily the most musically fascinating number on the album, with the most striking use of orchestration extending to brass clearly meant to evoke the big band style of the period, even though the tune is otherwise not even remotely in that style. McCartney noted that, at that point, there are two time signatures happening at once. He had Watt tap out a 3/4 rhythm on his thighs, while McCartney clapped a 4/4 rhythm. Having both happen “at the same time is a really funky thing. … You hear a lot of African music does this, and I’ve always been fascinated.”

From Variety, April 17, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session, April 16, 2026

“We moved outside of Liverpool with our parents making sure me and my brother, Mike, did ok,” McCartney said, praising the resilience that his parents’ generation exuded during tough times. The track opens with a trumpet and builds from there into a heavy tune with time signature shifts and the message in the lyrics of “They couldn’t take anymore, but they had to carry on.”

From Billboard, April 17, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session, April 16, 2026

You’re expecting the bomb to fall. Hitler was sending planes over Liverpool and my dad was a fireman, my ma was a nurse and midwife who had to deal with all these injuries. That has to do something to you.

Paul McCartney – From The Times, May 5, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session in London, May 5, 2026

Quite a few of the songs go back in time, I have never really written about my mum and dad and with all the turbulence going on now it got me thinking. I was born in 1942, in the war. I was too young to appreciate that, but my parents weren’t. My dad was a fireman, putting out fires from the bombs. And my mum was a nurse and a midwife and did a lot during the war. But they carried on, because they had to. People in places like Gaza are going through these terrible times now, but they are just having to carry on.

Paul McCartney – From The Times and The Mirror, May 5, 2026

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