What inspired Maxwell’s Silver Hammer?
This ghastly miscalculation … represents by far {McCartney’s} worst lapse of taste under the auspices of The Beatles.
Ian MacDonald The Revolution in the Head.
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer belongs to a very niche musical tradition: the cheerful murder sing-along. Perhaps the best example is Rodgers & Hart’s ‘To Keep My Love Alive’ (1943)
I married many men, a ton of them,
And yet I was untrue to none of them,
Because I bumped off every one of them
To keep my love alive.
It even includes a premonition of McCartney’s future knighthood.
Sir Paul was frail; he looked a wreck to me.
At night he was a horse’s neck to me,
This was the last lyric Lorenz Hart ever wrote. The macabre words are set against a disarmingly upbeat melody. McCartney attempts similar but doesn’t quite hit the spot.
Joan was quizzical/Studied pataphysical science in the home.
Both ‘quizzical’ and ‘pataphysical’ send the listener scuttling for the dictionary. Or perhaps not.
Some technical devices work well: the onomatopoeia in the chorus, for example, (Bang, Bang) creates an effective music hall hook. The adding…
