Song ban `amuses' McCartney

SIR PAUL McCartney will today release a single and video by his late wife, Linda, despite a blanket ban on all airplay by radio and television stations because the song contains a profanity.

In a row which seems to belong in the Sixties, Sir Paul is also taking out an advertisement in The Independent and other media urging parents to support his stance.

Sir Paul said last night that he was amused by the ban, though associates said that he was also angry, particularly with his record company, EMI, which has insisted on releasing the single, "The Light Comes From Within", with a "parental guidance" sticker warning of explicit lyrics. "I find it all very funny," Sir Paul said. "I don't think it's annoying; I think it's hilarious. After all, people do use the word on the telly and on the radio too ... In what age are we living? Is this the Nineties or is it the Twenties?"

Sir Paul's tongue-in-cheek advertisement asks parents to give their "guidance" on whether children will be "morally corrupted" by the controversial line in the song. In the advert, he says: "Should you decide that your children must not hear this record we would be grateful for your wisdom and good sense and will put our fingers in our ears whenever we hear it played.

"If, on the other hand, you feel that no harm will come to your children by being exposed to this song, give the guidance so sorely needed and tell them it's okay to do so."

The offending lyric, which was believed to be Linda McCartney's last retort to critics, says: "You say I'm simple, you say I'm a hick - you're fucking no one, you stupid dick."