‘Hi, Hi, Hi’: The Paul McCartney song he believes was wrongly banned
In the digital age, getting a song banned from the radio is not a worry that occupies the minds of artists, as it no longer is the cultural gatekeeper it once was. However, in a bygone era, broadcasters held the key to a song becoming a chart success, and without their seal of approval, taking the number one spot was an impossible mountain to climb, as Paul McCartney discovered the hard way.
Despite being the most famous living musician on the planet, many have attempted to silence McCartney on many occasions. During his time with The Beatles, McCartney felt the wrath of the BBC over their song, ‘I Am The Walrus’, which was ridiculously deemed “pornographic”. However, the radio ban didn’t stop the track from becoming an iconic part of the Fab Four’s back catalogue.
They faced a similar backlash with ‘A Day in the Life’, which was banned from broadcasters for suicidal references in the lyrics. ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ didn’t get airplay because of the drug connotations to the title, which references LSD, and ‘Back in the USSR’ owing to heightened tensions during the Gulf War. In hindsight, the reason for banning these songs from the radio makes sense, even if it was harsh. However, years later, McCartney believed he had a right to be angry upon another song was refused airplay.
Although cultural attitudes continued to progress and Britain became a more forward-thinking place, sadly, that attitude wasn’t one that the establishment was keen to take on. Despite common societal use, drugs remained a taboo subject throughout the 1970s, and any explicit reference faced an automatic ban. In 1972, Paul McCartney and Wings fell foul of this strict rule when they released ‘Hi, Hi, Hi’, which they deemed to promote drugs.
They believed the lyric, “We’re gonna get hi, hi, hi”, was about drugs, which is an easy mistake to make, especially considering McCartney’s history in this regard. The radio executives also took offence at the line, “Get you ready for my body gun,” which McCartney said was a printing error by record label Northern Songs. In the track, he actually sings, “Get you ready for my polygon”.
Speaking to Rolling Stone about the incident, McCartney attempted to deny it was about drugs, stating, “I thought the ‘Hi Hi Hi’ thing could easily be taken as a natural high, could be taken as booze high and everything. It doesn’t have to be drugs, you know, so I’d kind of get away with it. Well, the first thing they saw was drugs, so I didn’t get away with that, and then I just had some line, ‘Lie on the bed and get ready for my polygon.'”
He continued: “The daft thing about all of that was our publishing company, Northern Songs…got the lyrics wrong and sent them round to the radio station and it said, ‘Get ready for my body gun,’ which is far more suggestive than anything I put. ‘Get ready for my polygon,’ watch out baby, I mean it was suggestive, but abstract suggestive, which I thought I’d get away with. Bloody company goes round and makes it much more specific by putting ‘body gun.'”
While ‘Hi, Hi, Hi’ was banned from the most crucial broadcaster in the UK, that didn’t affect McCartney like it would most artists. The track still charted at number five in Britain, even without an ounce of radio play, and became a staple in the group’s live sets. Although he didn’t mention drugs by name in the lyrics, McCartney’s admittance that he hoped to “get away with it” shows that the musician knew he was playing with fire, and on this occasion, he got burned.
