Maxwell's Silver Hammer

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is a song performed by The Beatles, and included on their album Abbey Road. It was written by Paul McCartney, though the song-writing credit is Lennon-McCartney. Beatle George Harrison in 1969 described it 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 kinda sick because Maxwell keeps on killing everyone."

Related Topics:
The Beatles - Abbey Road - Paul McCartney - George Harrison

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The vaudevillian-style song is about medical student Maxwell Edison, who uses his silver hammer to murder his girlfriend, then his teacher, and finally a judge. According to McCartney, it epitomizes the downfalls of life. He said in 1994:

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: "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.

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The song took three days of overdubbing because McCartney imagined that it could be a future single. 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.

Related Topics:
John Lennon - Abbey Road

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

Related Topics:
2005 - Chaos and Creation in the Backyard

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: "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."

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