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Maxwell's Silver Hammer

 
Lyrics: Maxwell's Silver Hammer
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Performed by: The Beatles
Written by: John Winston Lennon; Paul James Mccartney

Credits: Lennon, John Winston (Songwriter); Mccartney, Paul James (Songwriter); SONY BEATLES LTD (Publisher); SONY/ATV TUNES LLC (Publisher)

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"Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
Song by The Beatles

from the album Abbey Road
Released 26 September 1969
Recorded 9 July-11 July, 6 August 1969
Genre Pop rock
Length 3:27
Label Apple Records
Writer Lennon/McCartney
Producer George Martin
Abbey Road track listing

"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.

Contents

Structure

The vaudevillian-style song is about medical student Maxwell 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 (a "Happy song about murder"). 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 Man" 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 1:21 as he sings the line "... writing fifty times I must not be so ..." on the studio recording. This is sometimes rumoured to be because as McCartney sang the line "so he waits behind," Lennon mooned McCartney from the control room.

The Beatles began recording Maxwell's Silver Hammer at Abbey Road Studios on 9 July 1969. McCartney, Harrison and Starr taped 16 takes of the rhythm track, followed by a series of guitar overdubs. The unused fifth take can be heard on Anthology 3.

The following two days the group overdubbed vocals, piano, Hammond organ, anvil and guitar. The song was completed on 6 August, when McCartney recorded a solo on a Moog synthesizer.[1]

Meaning

Although thought to be a thinly-veiled allegory on the Charles Manson murders, this is impossible, because the Tate-La Bianca murders occurred on 8–9 August 1969, after the song was recorded. However, a homicidal cult is believed 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.[2] The song may also be a warning about the dangers of dabbling with the powers of 'Pataphysics.[3]

McCartney said in 1994 that it merely epitomises the 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."

McCartney referred to the song when talking about his 2005 album Chaos and Creation in the Backyard:

"In the past I may have written tongue-in-cheek, like 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer', and dealt with matters of fate in a kind of comical, parody manner. It just so happens in this batch of songs I would look at these subjects and thought it was good for writing. If it's good enough to take to your psychiatrist, it's good enough to make a song of."

Comedian Patton Oswalt refers to "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" as a euphemism for a hypodermic needle used for injecting the perfect amount of heroin.[4]

Recording

The song was recorded in three days by McCartney, Harrison and Starr on the 9-11 July 1969.[5] A moog synthesiser overdub was added by McCartney on the 6th August.

The length of time it took to record the song created tension between the Beatles. John Lennon later recalled, "He did everything to make it into a single, and it never was and it never could have been."[6] According to Lennon, the band spent more money on that song than any other on Abbey Road, though this is contested[7] as it lacked the expensive orchestral overdubs of some of the other songs on the album. Lennon, who did not participate in the recording, 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."[8]

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 fucking weeks. I thought it was mad."[9]

Paul McCartney has defended the song: "The only arguments were about things like me spending three days on Maxwell's Silver Hammer. I remember George saying, 'You've taken three days, it's only a song.' - 'Yeah, but I want to get it right. I've got some thoughts on this one.' It was early-days Moog work and it did take a bit of time"[7].

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[10], Andy Babiuk[11] and Mark Lewisohn[12]

Cover versions

In the 1978 film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the song is performed by comedian Steve Martin, who portrays the character Maxwell Edison. Frankie Laine also covered the song as part of the musical documentary All This and World War II, which featured stock and newsreel footage of the Second World War set to performances of music by The Beatles. Child star Jack Wild recorded a version of this song for his first studio album "The Jack Wild Album". A North Devon group, Good Ship Lollipop covered the song in 1969 (their only single), this was released on the Ember label, and is available on "Rainy Day Mind" a 2009 CD of Ember releases. The English Indie Rock Band Let's Wrestle covered Maxwell's Silver Hammer for the 2009 Mojo compilation album, Abbey Road Now!, an album where numerous artists including cornershop and robyn hitchcock covered the whole of the Abbey Road album.

Cultural references

  • In the 2007 film Across the Universe, in which most characters are named after lyrics in Beatles songs, a principal character named Max is a Princeton student (although not necessarily majoring in medicine), is repeatedly described as mentally unstable, and in one scene is noisily battering a fan with a hammer. When he hits the fan with the hammer, it mimics the first seven notes to "Maxwell's Silver Hammer." At the family Thanksgiving dinner, Max is called Maxwell by his Uncle Teddy. Maxwell and Lucy's surname in the film is Carrigan. When Maxwell and Jude meet Sadie (Dana Fuchs) for the first time, she says, "You look clean cut, but then again you could have murdered your granny with a hammer."
  • Comedian Patton Oswalt uses the phrase "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" in his "Dr. Pepper" routine to refer to shooting up with heroin.
  • There are items called "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" in the computer games Kingdom of Loathing and the beta version of Mythos.
  • In the computer game Deus Ex, a datacube found in the MJ12 sewer base is addressed to one "Lt. Maxwell Hammer".
  • In the cartoon series Gargoyles, at a Quarryman meeting (note: the Quarrymen were a precursor to The Beatles), the chairman recommends that Maxwell be awarded a silver hammer.
  • Robyn Hitchcock released a song called "Brenda's Iron Sledge" on his debut solo album, Black Snake Diamond Role.
  • In the Ed, Edd n Eddy episode "Once Upon an Ed", Jonny says, "Plank and I want a real story with stuff like octopus's garden, silver hammers, and Mr. Kite!" All of these refer to Beatles songs, respectively, "Octopus's Garden", this song, and "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
  • The song is referenced in the movie Let's Go to Prison when one of the characters talks about how he killed his grandmother with a hammer. Another character comments "Like the Beatles song..."
  • The song is referenced in the TV show Celebrity Deathmatch, as Paul McCartney uses Maxwell's Silver Hammer to kill Ringo Starr and George Harrison.
  • Harry Turtledove's novel Thessalonica is filled with Beatles references. This song gets an explicit nod when a nobleman beats an invading Slav to death with a silver-inlaid warhammer. "Bang! Bang! Menas' silver hammer came down upon his head..."
  • In the opening video of The Beatles: Rock Band, a storefront can be seen called "Maxwell's Silver Sundries".

Notes

  1. ^ "The Beatles Bible: Maxwell's Silver Hammer". http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/maxwells-silver-hammer/. Retrieved 2008-10-23. 
  2. ^ The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, Michael Newton, ISBN 0-8160-3979-8
  3. ^ Barnes, Mike (2008-04-25), "That Ubu that you do", The Guardian, http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2275779,00.html .
  4. ^ Patton Oswalt, Feelin' Kinda Patton (United Musicians 2004) (CD)
  5. ^ Lewisohn, Mark. The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970. EMI Records. ISBN 0600612074. 
  6. ^ Bill Harry. The Paul McCartney Encyclopedia
  7. ^ a b "Maxwell's Silver Hammer". The Beatles's Bible. http://www.beatlesbible.com/songs/maxwells-silver-hammer/. Retrieved 2009-11-05. 
  8. ^ "George Harrison Interview". Crawdaddy Magazine. 1977-02. http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/db1977.0200.beatles.html. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 
  9. ^ "Interview with Ringo Starr". Rolling Stone. 2008-01. 
  10. ^ a b MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). p. 357. ISBN 1-844-13828-3. 
  11. ^ a b Babiuk, Andy (2002). Beatles Gear: All The Fab Four's Instruments, from Stage to Studio (Second Revised ed.). London: BackBeat Books (Outline Press). p. 256. ISBN 0-87930-731-5. 
  12. ^ a b Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. p. 179. ISBN 0-517-57066-1. 
  13. ^ For the studio version of the song, the anvil was played by Starr[10][11][12]; in the Beatles film Let It Be, however, Mal Evans is seen hitting the anvil as the Beatles play the track.

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