I didn't intend to have all of Paul's "granny ####" bunched up like this, but I guess it makes sense that it would shake out that way.
154. When I'm Sixty-Four (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, 1967)
Beatles version:
Spotify YouTube
Paul wrote this on his dad's piano when he was 14-16 (depending upon which interview you believe), so even though it was included on Sgt Pepper's, I don't think of it as being
entirely of those canonical sessions. Sure, some lyrics were added and the musicality of it was enhanced by what they were doing at the time, but at its core this is still a simple vaudevillian-style song from Paul's early years. I've never considered it a serious work, which I think makes me enjoy more than if I did, and Paul himself says that he originally wrote it tongue-in-cheek without a sense of how/when it would ever be used, with hopes that maybe it would make it into a cabaret show some day. This is simply a fun little song, and if you don't sing along when you hear it, there might be something wrong with you, or you are Mr. krista, or both.
Originally slotted to be the b-side to "Strawberry Fields Forever" before that was changed to a blockbuster double-a-side record with "Penny Lane," what shine most on this in my opinion are the flowing clarinets, the backing vocals, the final "hoo!", and the shift to a minor key for the bridge followed by the introduction back into major before the verse through the use of a cheerful chime. Though I find most of the lyrics slight, I find this clever:
Send me a postcard, drop me a line
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Fun facts: Paul switches to a Scottish accent for the line "Grandchildren on your knee...". He also had the recording sped up significantly in production to, according to Geoff Emerick and George Martin, simulate a more youthful voice or, according to Paul, make the song more "rooty-tooty."
Mr. krista: "The Kinks had a lot of songs like that, that were English music hall variety. But the Kinks were funny because they were really sardonic. They were in love with England but still cynical. So Village Green Preservation Society was just as complex musically. Paul is kind of lacking that cynicism that might have made that song good. It’s just in the style it’s in because that’s how it was written, not because it has anything to say about a monarchy or an empire or anything. Music like that is why I tended to like the Kinks more than the Beatles.* That part where he rolls his r’s makes me want to throw him through a wall."
*Divorce pending.
Suggested covers: Keith Moon;
The Del McCoury Band
153. Maxwell's Silver Hammer (Abbey Road, 1969)
Beatles version:
Spotify YouTube
A favorite of noted FFA nice-guy
@Gr00vus, this song might be the only one with Ringo listed on "anvil." I've probably rated this higher than many others would, including the rest of the Beatles who all hated it. John didn't even play on it but claimed that the numerous takes led it to cost more money to make than anything else on the record.
It's another bit of Paul's "granny music" with a made-up cast of characters, so different in style to the more personal songwriting of John and George. I loved this description from Paul of the differences in their writing styles: "Some of my songs are based on personal experiences, but my style is to veil it. A lot of them are made up, like 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer,' which is the kind of song I like to write. It's just a silly story about all these people I'd never met. It's just like writing a play: you don't have to know the people; you just make them up. I remember George once saying to me, 'I couldn't write songs like that.' He writes more from personal experience. John's style was to show the naked truth. If I was a painter, I'd probably mask things a little bit more than some people."
Though in a similar style, it gets a slight nod from me over "When I'm Sixty-Four" by virtue of the fact that it cracks me the hell up. You can just find yourself humming along with this jaunty ditty and then realize it's about murder. Paul McCartney is one weird dude. He has said that the song is supposed to be symbolic of when something suddenly goes wrong in your life (all is going well and then "bang bang!"), but I prefer just to enjoy it as a homicidal rampage.
The song's placement on
Abbey Road seems a little jarring to me, so I wasn't surprised to learn that Paul originally wrote it for the White Album but it wasn't recorded in time to make the cut. My favorite aspects of this song are those anvil hits on the "Bang bang," the synth, the slurring of the bass to make it sound like a tuba, and of course the humor. Paul sings it in a fashion almost like he's telling a children's story - a violent, gruesome children's story.
Mr. krista: "I think the lyrics are good. I like songs about guys who kill people with hammers. But I don’t much like this song."
Suggested cover: Though it's from The Film That Shall Not Be Named, I'm such a fan of his that I can't resist:
Steve Martin
It will include a new entrant in the top 10. 
Thanks again for the new thread. It'll be fun!
Poke your head in there sometime, as we missed you during that thread!
