It’s a rollicking pastiche written by Paul that is a take off on the Chuck Berry song “Back in the U.S.A.” and also parodies the Beach Boys. It’s the first track on the “White Album”—a great, rocking opening number.
Paul wrote it in Rishikesh, India while studying with the Maharishi. Beach Boy Mike Love was there, too, and Love actually suggested the idea for the song to Paul. Mike said over breakfast one morning, “Wouldn’t it be fun to do a Soviet version of ‘Back in the U.S.A.’?”
The Beach Boys and the Beatles always had a friendly rivalry and Paul thought it a great idea to transpose Berry’s patriotism to the U.S.S.R. Paul had fun talking about Soviet women the way the Beach Boys talked about California girls. He also liked putting the names of places like the Ukraine in the song, mentioning balalaikas, and, of course, making the clever allusion to Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia On My Mind.”
