--- description: Paul McCartney has not given up on writing a protest anthem for demonstrations against the killing of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. title: Paul McCartney is Drafting a Protest Anthem for Garner Demonstrations image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0eae9020f38f3b8e/6987704735ba6fd1a9c06238/465558863.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Paul McCartney Tried Writing a Protest Anthem for Garner Demonstrations  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 20, 2014 10:15 PM CUT  Paul McCartney performs onstage during "The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles" on Jan. 27, 2014 in Los Angeles. Paul McCartney performs onstage during "The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles" on Jan. 27, 2014 in Los Angeles.Larry Busacca—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 20, 2014 10:15 PM CUT Paul McCartney has not given up on writing a protest anthem for demonstrations against the killing of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. “I was thinking recently about all these protests in New York and around the country,” he told _Rolling Stone,_ “I thought it would be great to put something down about that, just to add my voice to the thousands of people walking in the streets.” Nonetheless the former Beatle had to scrap his initial attempt to write a song, amid a struggle to find the right tone. “I’m not giving up on it,” he said. [Read more at _Rolling Stone._](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/paul-mccartney-pondering-song-about-eric-garner-protests-20141219 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3643107/paul-mccartney-protest-anthem-eric-garner-michael-brown/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3643107/paul-mccartney-protest-anthem-eric-garner-michael-brown/"},"headline":"Paul McCartney Tried Writing a Protest Anthem for Garner Demonstrations","datePublished":"2014-12-20T22:15:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:02:28.344Z","description":"\"I was thinking recently about all these protests\"","url":"https://time.com/3643107/paul-mccartney-protest-anthem-eric-garner-michael-brown/","keywords":["Music","protest","Paul McCartney","Police Brutality","demonstrations","Eric Garner","Michael Brown"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0eae9020f38f3b8e/6987704735ba6fd1a9c06238/465558863.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0eae9020f38f3b8e/6987704735ba6fd1a9c06238/465558863.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles\" - Roaming Show","caption":"\"The Night That Changed America: A GRAMMY Salute To The Beatles\" - Roaming Show","creditText":"Larry Busacca—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3643107/paul-mccartney-protest-anthem-eric-garner-michael-brown/","name":"Paul McCartney Tried Writing a Protest Anthem for Garner Demonstrations"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: Protests Erupt Across New York City","description":"Protesters took over highways, squares and streets in waves of outrage","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/wGYjBNhw/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-12-04T05:10:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/wGYjBNhw.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3643107/paul-mccartney-protest-anthem-eric-garner-michael-brown/","duration":"PT2M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3643107/paul-mccartney-protest-anthem-eric-garner-michael-brown/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```