“We All Stand Together” by Paul McCartney kicks off countdown to Paralympics: Song lyrics and history

Paul McCartney (accompanied by amphibious warblers The Frog Chorus - actually the King’s Singers and St Paul’s Cathedral choir and flautist Elena Durán) released “We All Stand Together” as a single on 12 November 1984. The song featured in the animated short film Rupert and the Frog Song which Macca co-produced with Geoff Dunbar. The film is based on British comic strip Rupert Bear - a happy-go-lucky, plaid-clad teddy who, along with his chums, gets up to all kinds of escapades in sleepy Nutwood. The character was created by news editor Herbert Tourtel and illustrated by his wife Mary Tourtel in UK newspaper, The Daily Express, making its debut appearance in the 8 November 1920 edition.

The video starts with McCartney de-cluttering his attic and coming across a dusty old Rupert the Bear annual hidden underneath a pile of childhood comics at the bottom of a trunk. We see that it was Paul’s own annual, dating back to the late 1950s, and more likely than not a Christmas present from his childhood in Speke. As the annual is opened, a magical story begins.

Rupert’s adventure with singing frogs

Rupert is planning to spend the day walking by the hills. Before he sets off, his mother makes sure he has his trademark, yellow and black tartan scarf tied securely as “there’s a chill in the air”. He bumps into his pals Edward and Bill but both have their own pursuits lined up and can’t join him. At one with nature, Rupert rests by a tree and soon finds himself surrounded by a swarm of butterflies, then stumbles across a couple of frogs - a daddy frog and his son, who are waiting for a rare event - a frog chorus, a musical interlude that “only happens once every couple of hundred years”.

Rupert watches on in awe as the Frog King and Queen sing the last lines of the song, “We All Stand Together” followed by rapturous applause. It is broken when Rupert spots an owl swooping in for the kill - luckily he alerts the frogs just in time, who make a quick escape. He runs home to excitedly tell his mother all about the incredible sight he has just seen, which she takes with humor and slight disbelief.

The inspiration behind We All Stand Together

The song We All Stand Together was based on an illustration by Alfred Bestall that appeared in the 1958 Rupert Bear yearly annual, showing a frog conductor leading a choir of frogs of all shapes and sizes, singing their hearts out by a pond at dusk. McCartney demoed the song, in a chamber music-style, during sessions for his Tug of War album but is believed to have written the song in the 1970s.

Paul had the original idea for a full length Rupert Bear film in the 70s while bringing up his own kids. Windsor Davies and June Whitfield were brought on board to provide the narration for Rupert’s parents, with the Welsh actor also voicing Father Frog with Macca providing the voiceover for Rupert, Edward, Bill, Boy Frog.

Rupert and The Frog Song received a UK BAFTA (British Academy Award) in the Best Animated Short Film category, while the single peaked at number three in the UK in November 1984, spending a total of 20 weeks in the charts and earning Paul an Ivor Novello Award for Best Film Theme. The single was released in multiple formats (including die-cut picture disc) in many countries including Mexico, Argentina, Peru, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The same formats were re-released again the following year in an attempt to cash in on the Christmas market, peaking at 32.

‘We All Stand Together’ was remastered and re-released again in 2020 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Rupert the Bear with a message from Paul himself: “Congratulations to Rupert on his 100th birthday. The great thing is he never looks a day older. Having been a fan of his since my early days in Liverpool, I know what he means to generations of young and old kids. In his character and attitudes to the world, he sums up the best of British tradition and reminds us of an innocence we would all love to cherish. So, congratulations my little bear. Your fans are celebrating your 100th birthday and I for one think you deserve a telegram from the Queen.”