Heart of the Country

The song has simple acoustic tune with a heavy bass chorus, and an unusually mellow sound to the acoustic guitar that was achieved by tuning all of the strings a full step lower than standard pitch. The song is about a man searching for a farm in the middle of nowhere. The song reflects Paul's heading for the Scottish countryside to escape the headaches associated with the Beatles' break-up at the time.^[1]

The song is played in the key of D Minor at a tempo of 172.

• Paul McCartney – lead vocals, bass guitar, guitar
• Linda McCartney – backing vocals
• Hugh McCracken – guitar
• Denny Seiwell – drums (with brushes)

In a contemporary review for Ram, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone gave "Heart of the Country" a negative review, calling it the album's "lowest point", and the song that "most clearly indicates [Ram's] failures".^[2] Landau described the song as "an evenly paced, finger-picking styled tune, with very light jazz overtones, obviously intended as Paul's idea of "mellow."".^[2] However, Landau believed McCartney's lyrics about the country "ring false".^[2]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the song as "an effortless folk-pop tune that ranks among [McCartney's] very best songs".^[3] Erlewine also praises its "imaginative and gorgeous arrangement".^[4] In 2013, Rolling Stone rated "Heart of the Country" at number 26 in its list of Paul McCartney's best post-Beatles songs.^[1]

McCartney and Elvis Costello re-recorded the song, with Mark Ronson producing, in 2013 for a commercial featuring his late wife Linda's vegetarian recipe book.^[5]

It was also included on The 7" Singles Box in 2022.^[6]