The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Copyright - 1969 EMI Records Ltd. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song by The Beatles, from the Abbey Road album, with Paul McCartney singing lead. It was written by McCartney, though the songwriting credit is Lennon/McCartney. Structure The vaudevillian-style song is about medical student Maxwel
l Edison, who uses his silver hammer to murder his girlfriend Joan, then his teacher, and finally the judge during his murder trial. Despite the grim subject matter, the song is bouncy and upbeat. The "Silver Hammer Man" coda seems to be a deliberate pastiche of Mason Williams' 1968 song "Long Time
Blues"; the arrangement and performance of this coda echo the arrangement and performance of the titular line in Williams' song nearly perfectly. Additionally, the coda appears after the song has already resolved to a nice conclusion, which invites speculation regarding whether the "Silver Hammer Ma
n" coda was perhaps a nod to (or a tease on) Williams. In the film Let It Be, McCartney attempts to teach the song to the rest of the band, who are clearly less than enthusiastic. McCartney can be heard sniggering at 1:22 as he sings the line "... writing fifty times I must not be so ..." on the st
udio recording. This is often rumored to be because as McCartney sang the line "so he waits behind," Lennon mooned McCartney from the control room. Meaning Although thought by many fans to be a thinly-veiled allegory on the Charles Manson murders, this is impossible, because the Tate-La Bianca murd
ers occurred on August 8 and 9 1969, after the song was recorded. A homicidal cult is believed however to have used this name in the 1970s, and claimed the lives of five campers in Santa Barbara, California. This is mentioned by the Manson family. McCartney said in 1994 that it merely epitomizes th
e downfalls of life: "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is my analogy for when something goes wrong out of the blue, as it so often does, as I was beginning to find out at that time in my life. I wanted something symbolic of that, so to me it was some fictitious character called Maxwell with a silver hammer
. I don't know why it was silver, it just sounded better than Maxwell's hammer. It was needed for scanning. We still use that expression now when something unexpected happens." The rest of the Beatles The song took three days of overdubbing because McCartney imagined that it could be a future sing
le. John Lennon later recalled, "he did everything to make it into a single, and it never was and it never could have been." According to Lennon, the band spent more money on that song than any other on Abbey Road, and he derided the song at the time as a prime example of McCartney's "granny-style"
writing. George Harrison described it in 1969 as "one of those instant whistle-along tunes which some people hate, and other people really like. It's a fun song, but it's kind of a drag because Maxwell keeps on destroying everyone like his girlfriend then the school teacher, and then, finally, the
judge." In 1977, Harrison would be less charitable, stating "I mean, my God, 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' was so fruity."[5] Even Ringo Starr recalled in an interview in early 2008: "The worst session ever was 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer.' It was the worst track we ever had to record. It went on for fuck
ing weeks. I thought it was mad." Lyrics: Joan was quizzical, studied pataphysical Science in the home Late nights all alone with her a test tube Oh, oh, oh, oh Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine Calls her on the phone "Can I take you out to the pictures Jo-o-o-oan?" But as she's getting
ready to go A knock comes on the door Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon her head Clang! Clang! Maxwell's silver hammer made sure that she was dead Back in school again Maxwell plays the fool again Teacher gets annoyed Wishing to avoid and unpleasant scene-e-e-ene She tel
ls Max to stay when the class has gone away So he waits behind Writing fifty times "I must not be so-o-o-o But when she turns her back on the boy He creeps up from behind Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon her head Clang! Clang! Maxwell's silver hammer made sure that she was
dead P.C. thirty one said "we've caught a dirty one" Maxwell stands alone Painting testimonial pictures, oh, oh, oh, oh Rose and Valerie screaming from the gallery Say he must go free The judge does not agree, and he tells them so-o-o-o But, as the words are leaving his lips A noise comes
form behind Bang! Bang! Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon her head Clang! Clang! Maxwell's silver hammer made sure that he was dead Silver hammer man

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