Back in the U.S.S.R.

The recording for this song began on August 22, 1968. When The Beatles gathered together in the studio to begin, tempers flared between Ringo and Paul, and Ringo walked out, announcing he was quitting The Beatles. In his place on this song, Paul played the drums, and with John and George, the entire track was completed without Ringo.

During this time, The Beatles had a friendly relationship and rivalry with the Beach Boys. The longest time spent with them was on one of their trips to Rishikesh, India to visit the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. During this time, The Beatles and Beach Boys, along with Donovan, would jam and write songs together. Paul wrote "Back In The USSR," as a medley based on the Beach Boys and Chuck Berry. It was derived from a song by Berry in 1959 called "Back in The USA." Berry's song expressed his joy of being back in America with all its drive-ins, hamburgers, juke boxes, etc. Then Paul combined this with the Beach Boys song "California Girls," changing the love interest to Georgia girls and the Ukraine, speaking of them as if it was California.

It was perceived by many Americans as a song that promoted the Russians in a time when the United States was at war with the Russian supported Viet Cong. But it wasn't this at all. It was merely a parody using the USSR in place of familiar settings like California.

-- iamthebeatles.com

lol i love this song, even if it' s irony...

I wonder if Lennon had a certain sympathy for his homophonic (no, that doesn't mean gay) namesake.

Caps Lock Key. Hit it again, ladymadonna. Um...the lack of Strawberry Fields Forever I was irritated by, but Piggies? Why the hell would one WANT to be exposed to that repeatedly? SFF was/is very highly regarded. Piggies?

i always liked that the sound of the plane was made by paul.

echoes the Beach Boy's 'Back In The USA'. the beach boys were, sort of, a rival band at the time, as they too were enjoying chart success

One of my favorite satires ever :)

Fun to play on the guitar!

The non-materialism of the USSR compared to the USA. It was written when Britain and America had an obsessive hate of the USSR.

you know it really seems like the beach boys had a thing against the beatles..why? i know this really doesn't have much to do with the song but i really wanna know why...'cause my friend went to a beach boys concert/reunion and they were constantly dissing the beatles for some reason.