Linda McCartney

Released: October 26, 1998

Songwriter: Paul McCartney Linda McCartney

Producer: Paul McCartney

Chief Joseph and his tribe bred beautiful horses
On the banks of the Paloose River
The breed became known as the Appaloosa

Appaloosa stallion run so fast
Gallop through the canyon through the past
Lead your tribe to safety show the way
Cavalry gets closer every day
Once you ran through peaceful fields of grass
Once you drank from rivers clear and fast
Life for you was easy, full of love
Sleep beneath the yellow moon above
Then the foreign soldiers came from far across the sea
Stealing all the tribal land that once had been so free
Starving people that you love are crawling through the snow
Will they get across the border, heaven only knows
Appaloosa stallion run so fast
Gallop through the canyon through the past
Lead your tribe to safety show the way
Cavalry gets closer every day
Appaloosa stallion run so fast
Gallop through the canyon through the past
Lead your tribe to safety show the way
But the foreign soldiers came to stay
Then the foreign soldiers came from far across the sea
Stealing all the tribal land that once had been so free
Starving people that you love are crawling through the snow
Will they get across the border, heaven only knows
Appaloosa stallion run so fast
Gallop through the canyon through the past
Lead your tribe to safety show the way
But the foreign soldiers came to stay

Before she met Paul McCartney, Linda Eastman McCartney (1941-1998) was a professional photographer. Despite the name, she had no connection to the Eastman Kodak fortune – rather, her family were Jewish immigrants who moved to America at a time when it was common for Jewish-Americans to choose English last names as a way to assimilate.

In May 1967, Paul was in the audience at a small music club when he struck up a conversation with Linda. In May 1968, he made an excuse to see her the next time he was in New York. Within a month, they were inseparable, and they stayed devoted to each other until she died of cancer in 1998.

Paul’s biographer called the marriage “by far the happiest and most durable in pop.” With Paul as a coach, Linda went on a notorious rise from totally untrained musician, to a (self-acknowledged) mediocre member of Wings, to the respected counter-melody, co-writer, and muse of Paul’s late-career music. In 1975, she added “activist” to her resume, when she and Paul became the most famous converts to vegetarianism at the time.

more tracks from the album

Wide Prairie

From the album

Wide Prairie (1998)

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AppaloosaLinda McCartney

Linda McCartney

Wide Prairie