In the United States, "Pipes of Peace" was issued as the B-side as its British B-side, "So Bad", was the A-side.[4] "So Bad" reached number 23 at the US Billboard Hot 100[5]
and reached number 3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. "So Bad" peaked at 18 on the Canadian RPM Chart (and two weeks at No. 2 AC).[6][7]
The basic track was recorded on 10 September 1982 at AIR Studios,[8] with orchestral overdubs added later. McCartney plays piano, bass and knee-percussion, while tabla was added by James Kippen, who tried "something like 20–30 takes" before McCartney was satisfied.[9] A special session was organised to have the Pestalozzi Children Choir adding their voices.
Music video
At Chobham Common, Surrey, a video was shot for "Pipes of Peace", depicting the famous 1914 Christmas truce between British and German troops.[10] It portrays a British and a German soldier, both played by McCartney, who meet up in No Man's Land and exchange photos of their loved ones while other soldiers fraternise and play football. When a shell blast forces the two armies to retreat to their own trenches both men realise that they still have each other's pictures.[11] The video was produced by Hugh Symonds, featured more than 100 extras and, for added realism, McCartney had his hair cut short especially for the shoot.
In November 2014, the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's, in partnership with the Royal British Legion, produced a Christmas advert[12] whose look and narrative were widely recognised[13] as being based on McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" video. As in "Pipes of Peace" the British and German soldier return to their trenches to discover that they have inadvertently swapped their gifts from home.
