The Dog-and-Pony Story Behind “Jet” by Paul McCartney & Wings
In interviews Paul McCartney gave during the promotion of his album Band on the Run, he stated that “Jet” was the name of a black Labrador puppy. In later years, he told the story of how it was the name of a Shetland pony he owned. Both stories could be true, but either way, it doesn’t make a difference to the meaning of the song “Jet’s” lyrics. McCartney also talks about his father-in-law in relation to the words. David Bowie’s “Suffragette City” played a role as well. Dress it all up with a cool saxophone riff and some fist-pumping, arena-rock hooks and you’ve got one of McCartney’s most memorable singles. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Jet” by Paul McCartney & Wings.
Jet, Jet
Jet, I can almost remember their funny faces
That time, you told them you were going to be marrying soon
And Jet, I thought the only lonely place was on the moon
Jet the Puppy
McCartney wasn’t sure there was a single on his 1973 album Band on the Run. Al Coury, head of marketing at Capitol Records, convinced him to edit “Jet” down to a length more condusive to FM radio play. In 1973, McCartney told author Paul Gambaccini in Paul McCartney: In His Own Words: “We’ve got a Labrador puppy who is a runt, the runt of a litter. We bought her along a roadside in a little pet shop out in the country one day. She was a bit of a wild dog, a wild girl who wouldn’t stay in. We have a big wall around our house in London, and she wouldn’t stay in. She always used to jump the wall. She’d go out on the town for the evening, like Lady and the Tramp. She must have met up with some big black Labrador or something. She came back one day pregnant. She proceeded to walk into the garage and have this litter. … Seven little black puppies, perfect little black Labradors, and she’s not black, she’s tan. So we worked out it must have been a black Labrador. What we do is if either of the dogs we have has a litter, we try to keep them for the puppy stage so we get the best bit of them, and then when they get a bit unmanageable, we ask people if they want to have a puppy. So Jet was one of the puppies. We give them all names. We’ve had some great names. There was one puppy called Golden Molasses. I rather like that. Then, there was one called Brown Megs, named after a Capitol executive. They’ve all gone now.”
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
