Sounds of Scotland – a Surprisingly Scottish playlist

In this blog, Learning & Engagement Manager Ross Christie embarks in an adventure around the unexpected Sounds of Scotland, from pipes to pop and folk to funk.

From These Parts: Scotland, Art and Identity explores the idea that “Scottishness” is not a single, fixed identity, but something continually shaped and reshaped by different people, places and experiences over time. This idea runs through the artworks in the exhibition, and it can also be heard clearly in Scotland’s music; particularly in popular music of the 20th and 21st centuries. 

The common image of Scottish music is often rooted in folk and traditional lineages: bagpipes, fiddles and accordions; ceilidh bands, pub corners and pipe band performances. These forms remain powerful and important, but they represent only part of a much broader musical landscape. Scottish music has always absorbed outside influences, responded to migration and social change, and provided space for experimentation, humour and subversion. 

From the rhythmic Gaelic waulking songs of weavers to children’s street rhymes rich with wit and political bite music in Scotland has been shaped by everyday life as much as by tradition. In the modern era, Scottish identity can be heard in unexpected places: in international pop hits, post-punk experiments, electronic tracks recorded in rural studios, and songs shaped by experiences of movement, loss, belonging and reinvention.

To address this, we have put together a playlist celebrating the music that makes up Scotland’s many voices.

This playlist brings together tracks that are connected to Scotland in different ways; through birthplace, recording location, collaboration or cultural influence. Some of these connections are obvious; others are surprising. They invite us to think differently about what “Scottish” music sounds like, and to consider how identity travels, adapts and endures far beyond any single place or genre. 

Pick up the Pieces – Average White Band 

Pick Up the Pieces is a classic of 1970s funk: tight, joyful, and instantly recognisable. People are often surprised to learn that it was written and performed by six musicians from Scotland. 

Average White Band formed in London but grew out of the Scottish music scene, with members coming from across Scotland. At a time when funk was seen as a distinctly American genre, AWB not only embraced it but mastered it. Pick up the Pieces reached number one on the US Billboard chart, making it one of the most successful instrumental singles of its era, and has featured in films, television and video games from its release until now. 

The story of AWB complicates ideas about national sound and cultural ownership. Pick Up the Pieces shows that Scottish musicians have long been part of global musical conversations; absorbing, adapting, and excelling in many cutting-edge styles and genres.

Temporary Secretary – Paul McCartney 

Temporary Secretary is one of Paul McCartney’s strangest and most divisive songs: cold, electronic, repetitive, and far removed from Beatles-era nostalgia. It was also recorded in Scotland, at McCartney’s farm in Kintyre. 

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, McCartney used his rural Scottish home as a space for experimentation. The isolation and freedom it offered allowed him to work quickly and intuitively, embracing new technologies like synthesisers and home recording. 

This track reminds us that Scotland can be a place of making, not just origin. Its landscapes, spaces, and distance from industry centres have long attracted artists looking to think differently – and Temporary Secretary reflects the sound of that creative risk-taking.

Road to Nowhere – Talking Heads 

At first glance, Road to Nowhere might seem like an outlier on a playlist about Scotland. Talking Heads are an American band, and the song itself is a wry, gospel-tinged reflection on modern life. Its connection to Scotland lies with the band’s frontman, David Byrne. 

Byrne was born in Dumbarton before moving to Canada and then the United States as a child. Although he didn’t grow up in Scotland, that place of origin remains part of his story, illustrating how Scottish identity can travel, fragment, and resurface across generations and geographies. 

Byrne has spoken about still identifying, at least in part, as Scottish. He has described his sense of humour as distinctly Scottish – dry, ironic, and slightly askew – which runs through his writing and music. As a child, his Scottish accent marked him out as different at school, becoming a source of ridicule and reinforcing a feeling of being an outsider. 

Road to Nowhere opens space to think about migration and the many ways someone can be “from” a place. Scottish identity is not always visible, fixed, or consciously claimed, but it can still exert a quiet influence, shaping perspective, experience, and creative life in unexpected ways.

I Heard – Young Fathers 

I Heard by Young Fathers offers a contemporary perspective on Scottish identity. The Edinburgh-based trio draw on hip-hop, pop, electronic music and gospel influences, creating a sound that defies easy categorisation – much like the identities it expresses. 

The song speaks to experiences of being watched, judged, and misunderstood, capturing the pressure of visibility and the feeling of being spoken about rather than listened to. For a group whose members have roots in Liberia, Nigeria and Scotland, these themes reflect lived experiences of navigating belonging in a society where national identity can often be narrowly defined. 

I Heard highlights a Scotland shaped by displacement, migration, and international cultural exchange. It challenges traditional ideas of what Scottish music sounds like and who gets to be seen as “Scottish,” making space for voices that insist on a broader, more inclusive understanding of Scottish culture.

Son of a Gun – Nirvana

Son of a Gun appears on Nirvana’s compilation Incesticide, but the song wasn’t written by the band. It’s a cover of a track by The Vaselines, an influential indie group from Glasgow. 

Kurt Cobain was a vocal admirer of The Vaselines and helped introduce their music to a global audience. In covering Son of a Gun, Nirvana carried a piece of distinctly Scottish indie music into the heart of 1990s alternative rock. 

This connection is a reminder that influence doesn’t always run through charts or institutions. Sometimes it moves through admiration, sharing, and word of mouth. Scottish music has shaped international scenes not only through visibility, but through quiet, powerful impact.

Teardrop – Massive Attack (feat. Elizabeth Fraser) 

Teardrop is often associated with Massive Attack’s Bristol-based trip-hop sound, but its connection to Scotland comes through the unmistakable voice of Elizabeth Fraser. Best known as the singer of Cocteau Twins, Fraser grew up in Grangemouth and was a central figure in the influential Scottish music scene of the 1980s and 90s. 

Fraser both wrote and performed the lyrics to Teardrop, shaping the song around themes of love, loss, and renewal following the death of her partner, the American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley. Though abstract in form, the words carry deep emotional weight, exploring vulnerability and transformation rather than narrative certainty. 

The track reflects how Scottish artists have contributed to global popular music through collaboration, bringing personal histories and creative sensibilities into international contexts. Fraser’s voice carries traces of a distinctive Scottish musical lineage, yet it transcends borders and genres. Teardrop highlights how identity can be embedded in creative practice quietly, sometimes powerfully, and how Scottish voices have shaped cultural expression far beyond Scotland itself. 

We hope you enjoy listening to this playlist as part of From These Parts: Scotland, Art and Identity. It’s not intended to be definitive, but a starting point: a collection of sounds that reflect how Scottish identity is layered, surprising and constantly evolving.  

We’d love to hear what Scotland sounds like to you. If there’s a track that speaks to your own sense of place, memory or belonging, please add it to the playlist and help us to build this shared, ever-changing soundtrack. 

Ross Christie
Learning & Engagement Manager, University of St Andrews Libraries and Museums