A lot of classic rock songs from the 1970s are nonsensical. Paul McCartney’s “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is a little more connected to reality than it might appear at first. The former Beatle revealed that the track was partly inspired by an admiral from American history.  

Paul McCartney explained why he wrote ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’

One of Paul’s trademarks was fabricating characters for his songs. He gave us the stories of Eleanor Rigby, Polythene Pam, Mean Mr. Mustard, Desmond and Molly Jones, and Sailor Sam. With that in mind, fans should be forgiven if they assume Admiral Halsey from “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is fictitious. However, Paul revealed the song is about a figure from World War II.

During a 2021 interview with PaulMcCartney.com, the “Band on the Run” singer discussed writing “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey.” “I’d always liked writing love songs, ballads, and rock ‘n’ roll songs, but then one of my other little side interests was to invent surrealist stuff,” he said. “Admiral Halsey was someone I’d read about — he’s a character from American history — and I just liked the name. 

“I was playing around with that and making up a fictional story, and I just ran into the words ‘and butter pie,’” he added “Well, there’s no such thing as a butter pie, that I’ve ever heard of anyway. So, it was a surrealist image, like in surreal art where you have a thing called a ‘hair cup,’ which is just a cup that’s made out of fur. You wouldn’t think to drink from it, it’d be disgusting, but as an image it’s interesting and shocking. ‘Butter pie’ is that kind of equivalent, but in a song.”

A look at the person who inspired Paul McCartney

So who was the real Halsey? According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, William F. Halsey, Jr. was a naval commander. He served as a destroyer commander in World War I before fighting in the Pacific Theater in World War II. Between 1942 and 1944, he was in charge of America’s campaign in the Solomon Islands. While he’s not as famous as Dwight D. Eisenhower or Douglas MacArthur, Halsey was commended by his contemporaries for his military prowess and he’s still respected today.

So, what does all this have to do with Uncle Albert? Or butter pie, for that matter? Well, I’m sure there are Beatlemaniacs out there who would be perfectly willing to spend hours explaining why the lyrics of “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” are coherent. Perhaps they are. However, considering the fact that “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” comes from the psychedelic album Ram, many fans will view the tune as a whimsical mood piece rather than a cogent song. After all, The Beatles knew how to write psychedelic nonsense.

How the world reacted to the strangeness of ‘Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey’

While the track doesn’t sound mainstream, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” was huge. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week, lasting on the chart for 13 weeks. Meanwhile, Ram peaked at No. 2 and stayed on the Billboard 200 for 42 weeks.

“Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” is surreal but the allusions to Halsey give it just a touch of historical weight.