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Released in 2026

Salesman Saint

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on June 14, 2026

Album This song officially appears on the The Boys Of Dungeon Lane Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 2026

Master release

Related session

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related interviews

“Salesman Saint” is a track from Paul McCartney’s 2026 album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane.” The song is inspired by Paul’s parents, Mary and Jim McCartney, who raised Paul and his brother Mike during World War II, including the years of bombing in Liverpool. Jim McCartney worked as a cotton salesman, while Mary McCartney was a midwife — the “saint” referred to in the song’s title.

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 on this album go back in time. And, you know, I was thinking about that: I was thinking, why am I always doing stuff about memories and stuff? And then it occurred to me, I think that’s where your big bank of information is. So, you know, if you’re Charles Dickens, you’re gonna be writing about how your dad was in prison or something. You know? That’s what you draw on. It’s a very rich field to write about.

So, yeah, I thought, well, I’ve never really written about my mum and dad. I was born in 1942 and World War II ended in 1945. So I’m born in the war, you know, it’s like, “What?” It’s true but, I mean, luckily I was too young to appreciate that. But then I thought, “Well, my parents weren’t. So they’re… but any minute they’re expecting like bombs to fall and blow the place up. Boy, that must do something to you, you know? You must really have to be so strong and positive.

My dad was a fireman, so he was having to put out these fires caused by these bombs, incendiary bombs. So my dad did that. As if that wasn’t bad enough, you know, with all the bombs coming out, they… now they’ve got me, they’ve got a family, so they’ve got to try and raise this family and stuff. So that became something I was really thinking about, you know, and thinking about my mum, who was a nurse and a midwife. So again, she must have had to deal with a lot of injuries in the war, but they carried on. Why? Just because they had to. There’s, like, no alternative. So yeah, I thought I would write about my mum and dad and this is just basically talking about them and how they had this spirit to carry on, ’cause they had to. “Salesman Saint.”

Paul McCartney – Track-by-track commentary from Amazon Music

One day, on that song Salesman Saint, I just happened to think, Wow, people these days, raising children – young families, young friends, people I know – it’s hard. It’s a great experience, but you’ve got to work at it. And then I thought, Well, I wonder what it was like for my parents? It wasn’t like I was trying to be nostalgic. It was just a thought: What must it have been like for them? And then, of course, you realize, that was in World War II. That was completely different from anything we know at the moment. These wars are going on, but in other countries. In their case, it was in their country where the bombs were falling. That just struck me as an amazing fact that my actual parents had gone through that stuff, and yet they’d come through. They’d survived. My dad was a fireman during the war. He was directly involved in the wartime effort. My mother was a nurse, a midwife. She was involved in that kind of stuff, too. It just seemed like a really good tale to tell. It’s not that I was trying to be nostalgic but, in telling that tale, it had to be nostalgia, to be referring to the past. Things people write often do refer to the past, but it’s hard to just refer to tomorrow. We don’t know what’s gonna happen then. So you can make it up and stuff, as we often do. But the past is full of stuff. It’s a rich place to mine for ideas.

Paul McCartney – From MOJO, May 14, 2026

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

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
A countdown leading to May 29, the release date of the album, was organized on Paul McCartney’s social media accounts. Each day, details of a new track — including songwriting and recording credits — were revealed in reverse running order, with Track 10 unveiled ten days before the album’s release, Track 9 nine days before, and so on, culminating with Track 1 on the eve of release.

Lyrics

My father was a salesman

My mother was a saint

Working every God-given minute

To make enough to pay the rent

The war was nearly over

The peace would soon begin

Living on the edge of the city

When the roads were going in

They couldn't take any more (They couldn't take any more)

But they had to (Carry on)

They couldn't take any more (They couldn't take any more)

But they had to carry on (Carry on)

So they learned to carry on

With laughter and a song

To help them through the night

They're going to make it through

They're going to make it all right

The only entertainment a piano and a radio

Hot tea and cigarettes was enough to keep them on the go

Another generation yearning to be free

Learning how to keep it together and raise a family

They couldn't take any more (They couldn't take any more)

But they had to (Carry on)

They couldn't take any more (They couldn't take any more)

But they had to carry on

Carry on

Officially appears on

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Paul McCartney writing

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Ramon • May 31, 2026 • 3 weeks ago

Salesman* Saint

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