WEBVTT - Maxwell’s Silver Hammer

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi, everyone, it's Paul muldoon. Before we get to this episode,

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<v Speaker 2>I wanted to let you know that you can binge

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<v Speaker 2>all twelve episodes of McCartney A Life and Lyrics right now,

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<v Speaker 2>add free by becoming a pushkin Plus subscriber. Find Pushkin

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<v Speaker 2>Plus on the McCartney A Life and Lyrics Show, pedge

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<v Speaker 2>in Apple Podcasts, or at pushkin dot fm, slash plus.

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<v Speaker 3>Hi.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm going to be driving up to Liverpool in my

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<v Speaker 4>brand new Aston Martin, going too fast.

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<v Speaker 3>But with the radio. There was this play that caught

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<v Speaker 3>my ears.

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<v Speaker 5>The shit a bump out of order and you all

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<v Speaker 5>have you deep brain.

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<v Speaker 3>Ubu cuckoo I was. I really liked it.

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<v Speaker 5>It's not functioning at all, it's broken.

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<v Speaker 3>Down because it was so rebellious.

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<v Speaker 5>What a dirty business like your deep braining machine.

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<v Speaker 3>I just love this character, Ubu.

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<v Speaker 6>I'm not afraid of that.

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<v Speaker 5>There's nothing like a sewage barrel.

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<v Speaker 3>I liked hund me my shitter pump, may Ubu.

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<v Speaker 4>I thought that is good shit, a pump and just

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<v Speaker 4>the image that conjured up. It is always little dirty

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<v Speaker 4>things appeal to me. When when people are rude and.

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<v Speaker 3>I say, I went up the whole of the journey

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<v Speaker 3>listening to this.

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<v Speaker 5>Barrel pumpkin refuse of humanity.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm Paul Mulder for a while now, I've been fortunate

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<v Speaker 2>to spend time with one of the greatest songwriters of

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<v Speaker 2>our era, and.

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<v Speaker 3>Will you look at me, I'm going on to I'm

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<v Speaker 3>actually a performer.

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<v Speaker 2>That is Sir Paul McCartney. We worked together on a

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<v Speaker 2>book looking at the lyrics of more than one hundred

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<v Speaker 2>and fifty of his songs, and we recorded many hours

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<v Speaker 2>of our conversations.

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<v Speaker 4>It was like going back to an old snapshot album

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<v Speaker 4>looking back on work I hadn't ever analyzed.

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<v Speaker 2>This is McCartney, a life in lyrics, a masterclass, a memoir,

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<v Speaker 2>and an improvised journey with one of the most iconic

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<v Speaker 2>figures in popular music. In this episode, Maxwell's Silver Hammer.

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<v Speaker 3>To B B be E minor A seven D B

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<v Speaker 3>J A.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, it's a story song, you know, It's one of

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<v Speaker 4>my story songs. And I think I'm kind of unique

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<v Speaker 4>in the Beatles for doing them, because if you look

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<v Speaker 4>at Georgie, songs are always very auto biographical. It's very

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<v Speaker 4>something he thinks, My sweet lord, you know, here comes

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<v Speaker 4>the sun and Mine's influenced I think by that period

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<v Speaker 4>of intense literature. This is why I do story songs

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<v Speaker 4>where someone is making a writer is putting himself in

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<v Speaker 4>the position of a person. It's the imagination that I like.

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<v Speaker 4>So with things like lax and Slamma, I like the

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<v Speaker 4>idea of making up people, dramatic persona.

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<v Speaker 6>Jos quisical, sturdy batter, physical sign late night song along

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<v Speaker 6>with a TestU.

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<v Speaker 2>The lyric studied Pataphysical Science in the Home is a

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<v Speaker 2>rather obscure reference to the work of the French playwright

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<v Speaker 2>Alfred Jarry, whose play Ubu Kokou McCartney heard on his

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<v Speaker 2>car radio. Jarry is often considered a forefather of Dadaism

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<v Speaker 2>and surrealism, and he once described his made up discipline

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<v Speaker 2>of pataphysics as the science of imaginary solutions.

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<v Speaker 4>I got round to Jari and pataphysics and I had

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<v Speaker 4>friends with guy Barry Miles, and he was very bookish.

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<v Speaker 4>He look bookish. He started the Indico bookstore with a

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<v Speaker 4>couple of others. I used to just go around to

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<v Speaker 4>his house and we would just have dinner and we

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<v Speaker 4>would just talk. So with Jarry, we were talking about

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<v Speaker 4>what part of physics was and he was more knowledgeable

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<v Speaker 4>than I have said when it wasn't. It was a

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<v Speaker 4>made up science, and he had the chair of Pataphysics

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<v Speaker 4>and the other partaphysical Society.

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<v Speaker 5>Remember that you are addressing a celebrated pataposition. Excuse me, sir,

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<v Speaker 5>you said pataposition. Pataphysics is a branch of science which

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<v Speaker 5>we have invented and for which a crying.

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<v Speaker 3>Need is generally experienced.

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<v Speaker 5>Oh but you see, if you're a famous inventor, we'll

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<v Speaker 5>understand each other.

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<v Speaker 3>For between great men, I let.

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<v Speaker 5>Our more modesty, sir. Besides, I see no great man

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<v Speaker 5>here except myself. But since you insist, I have condescended

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<v Speaker 5>to do you a most significant honor. Let it be

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<v Speaker 5>known to you, sir, that your establishment suits us, and

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<v Speaker 5>that we have decided to make ourselves at home here.

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<v Speaker 4>I was just fascinated by the surrealism of it and

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<v Speaker 4>the madness of it all, you know, so so that

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<v Speaker 4>I was very happy to get the rhyme quizzical and pataphysical.

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<v Speaker 3>And then Joan. So we just started with a Joan. Okay,

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<v Speaker 3>we've got a character.

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<v Speaker 6>Joan was quizical, sturdy batter physical science like.

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<v Speaker 4>The way be study part of physical science in the home. Yes,

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<v Speaker 4>in science in the Home is almost like a title,

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<v Speaker 4>So I like this. And then when it's like all

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<v Speaker 4>alone with a test you there's something a bit sort

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<v Speaker 4>of surreal but suggestive.

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<v Speaker 6>Late nights, all alone with a test tube.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, the test tube, of course at that point the

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<v Speaker 1>notion of the test tube, babe, was probably you know

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<v Speaker 1>very much at that point, wasn't it.

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<v Speaker 3>It was?

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<v Speaker 4>And also, if I'm going to talk about science, for me,

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<v Speaker 4>my experience of science was pippetts and test tubes and on.

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<v Speaker 3>On some burders, all those wonderful things.

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<v Speaker 6>Maxwell Edison majorine in medicine, Can I take you out

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<v Speaker 6>of the pictures?

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<v Speaker 2>And Joe, the name of the song's anti hero, might

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<v Speaker 2>have come from James Clark Maxwell, the Scottish scientist who

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<v Speaker 2>developed the classical theory of electromagnetism, and Maxwell's surname Edison

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<v Speaker 2>must have come from the inventor Thomas Edison.

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<v Speaker 3>I just loved the rhyme.

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<v Speaker 4>As I loved quizical by the physical Maxwell.

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<v Speaker 6>Edison Major Edison puls Can I take you out of

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<v Speaker 6>the picture's jum.

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<v Speaker 2>When the Beatles were recording Maxwell's Silver Hammer and the

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<v Speaker 2>Rest of Abbey Road, they were experimenting with their own science,

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<v Speaker 2>that of music production.

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<v Speaker 4>This coincided with the visit to Abbey Road of Robert Moog. Oh,

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<v Speaker 4>yes there's adventure sizer and no one had seen synth science.

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<v Speaker 4>This is the very first was on the first time,

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<v Speaker 4>and they took up a whole room.

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<v Speaker 3>It was a huge thing and it filled the whole

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<v Speaker 3>wall of the room.

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<v Speaker 2>Here's the journalist Derry Cooper introducing the new instrument on television.

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<v Speaker 2>It's called the milk synthesizer.

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<v Speaker 3>It produces sounds in a matter of minutes, which would

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<v Speaker 3>normally take radiophonic experts with their complicated equipment.

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<v Speaker 2>Days of work and multiple re recording would give.

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<v Speaker 4>George Martin was always very keen on these technological innovations.

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<v Speaker 4>You probably find he knew Robert anyway, come over abro

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<v Speaker 4>show us this smoke thing, and I was fascinated, and

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<v Speaker 4>he show us how to get these sounds from the walk.

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<v Speaker 4>But it took a little longer than our normal songs

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<v Speaker 4>took not crazy compared by today's standards, sure, but by

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<v Speaker 4>those relatively long time by the standards of the day.

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<v Speaker 6>She's scary.

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<v Speaker 2>Ready on the As we get to the chorus of

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<v Speaker 2>the song, it shifts from a wholesome romance between the

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<v Speaker 2>pataphysicist Joan and her medical suitor to a much more

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<v Speaker 2>violent story that's well sealed.

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<v Speaker 6>Game down.

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<v Speaker 4>And so now you know this is like noir cinema noir.

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<v Speaker 4>I like the idea that we were all cozy and

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<v Speaker 4>she's just a scientist and it's a little bit fun.

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<v Speaker 4>And he's a doctor studying medicine student, medical student.

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<v Speaker 3>But now he's going to kill a swell that she

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<v Speaker 3>was dead.

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<v Speaker 1>It's serial murderer in some ways.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, he is a serial murderer. And now we've whoa.

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<v Speaker 4>We now got into a much darker world.

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<v Speaker 6>School again, Max replays the pool again. The teacher against annoyed,

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<v Speaker 6>wishing to avoid an unpleasant scene, she tells Max to

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<v Speaker 6>say when the glass has gone away, So he waits behind,

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<v Speaker 6>writing fifty times, I must not be so.

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<v Speaker 4>Writing fifty times, I must not be so fifty lines

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<v Speaker 4>was a standard punishment in detention, right, I must not

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<v Speaker 4>talking class, And I was always doing that.

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<v Speaker 3>I was often in detention.

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<v Speaker 7>I must not be so or whatever. It was so naughty,

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<v Speaker 7>so Parrathon, I.

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<v Speaker 3>Must not be so. I don't need to say the naughty.

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<v Speaker 6>When she turns it back on, the boy dreams up

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<v Speaker 6>from behind Maxwell sail.

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<v Speaker 7>Now.

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<v Speaker 2>To accentuate the shock of the deadly silver hammer, the

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<v Speaker 2>chorus incorporated clangs of a hammer heading an anvil, though

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<v Speaker 2>it's contested Ringo Starr likely did all the percussion for

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<v Speaker 2>the recording, including that anvil. However, it was Mel Evans,

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<v Speaker 2>the band's tour manager, who banged the hammer in rehearsals.

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<v Speaker 6>Bang Bang Maxwell Silver saw that she was dead taking

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<v Speaker 6>away Johnny.

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<v Speaker 7>I mean is in Bang Bang Maxwell's silver hammer. It's

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<v Speaker 7>not without its humor, and it conjures up. It conjures

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<v Speaker 7>up for me a fair ground.

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<v Speaker 3>Remember that thing? Is that part of what strength? Yes,

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know. To me, the silver hammer is like

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<v Speaker 3>a medical thing. Okay, it's ominous.

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<v Speaker 1>I see, like the kind of thing used to knock

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<v Speaker 1>your knee. Whether to see what you're reflexing silver.

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<v Speaker 4>I'm thinking like sort of chrome in my head, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>silver hammer is a medical student.

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<v Speaker 1>Medical students got just sort of crow hammer.

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<v Speaker 7>Yeah, but I mean it is a violent image of

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<v Speaker 7>something coming.

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<v Speaker 3>To it is extremely violent. But that's that's the thing,

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<v Speaker 3>isn't it Like surrealism? That's what happens.

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<v Speaker 4>You get a very ordinary scene and then bang, it's

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<v Speaker 4>a dramatic device as well. You know so, and I

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<v Speaker 4>just I don't know why I wanted to do sort

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<v Speaker 4>of dark comedy. It's like at a dark comedy because

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<v Speaker 4>it is a comedy.

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<v Speaker 6>See thirty one said we go to dirty one. Maxwell

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<v Speaker 6>stands painting testimonial pictures.

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<v Speaker 4>You know PC thirty one. There was a PREC forty

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<v Speaker 4>nine when I was a kid.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, it was a character.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, what was that in?

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<v Speaker 3>I think it was possibly on the radio. I remember

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<v Speaker 3>that PC and.

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<v Speaker 4>Leave instructions at the death that I want to see

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<v Speaker 4>PC forty nine as soon as he comes on tomorrow,

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<v Speaker 4>I will say.

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<v Speaker 5>Excuse me, sage this sage and sent me out with

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<v Speaker 5>this message for the DDI What did it come from?

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<v Speaker 2>The Adventures of PC forty nine was a popular post

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<v Speaker 2>war radio series produced by the BBC. The show followed

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<v Speaker 2>the everyday sleuthing of Police Constable Archibald Berkley Willoughby as

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<v Speaker 2>he investigated cheating gamblers and other crimes on the cold

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<v Speaker 2>streets of London.

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<v Speaker 1>Say what have the police raid this place?

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<v Speaker 5>I want so still we've got even that organized a

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<v Speaker 5>system of warning bells and two tough boys on the

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<v Speaker 5>door to the lie up.

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<v Speaker 2>This old time noir radio show might have inspired the character,

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<v Speaker 2>gallery and setting of McCartney's song.

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<v Speaker 6>And those Valerie screaming from the gallery, say him muscufa.

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<v Speaker 6>The judge does not agree, and he tells them.

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<v Speaker 4>Souls rose and Valerie screaming from the gallery, you mus

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<v Speaker 4>go free. So, I mean, he's got his supporters and

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<v Speaker 4>it's like, oh, don't support him too much, girls, because he'll.

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<v Speaker 3>Kill you, you know. So it's a little bit on us,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, a little bits of the dark.

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<v Speaker 6>Leaving his lips. The noise comes from behind him.

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<v Speaker 3>I like the idea of playing with them. I like

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<v Speaker 3>the idea of giving him.

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<v Speaker 1>A story, are saying what they come up with, I suppose.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, and then you know, putting Valerie in the gallery.

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<v Speaker 8>It's such a joyous song. I mean it has this

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<v Speaker 8>dark undertoe, but it has you have tongue.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, it's tongue in cheek. You know that it's

0:16:43.664 --> 0:16:48.704
<v Speaker 4>not a real story. This is not dateline. You know,

0:16:48.784 --> 0:16:51.704
<v Speaker 4>this is made up. And I think that's the sort

0:16:51.744 --> 0:16:55.464
<v Speaker 4>of joy of it. It's like a children's nursery rhyme

0:16:55.544 --> 0:16:57.384
<v Speaker 4>you know, chop, chop off your head.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a big tradition of that stuff.

0:17:00.664 --> 0:17:03.384
<v Speaker 4>You know, nursery rhymes are always chopping off people's heads,

0:17:03.464 --> 0:17:06.424
<v Speaker 4>or Humpty Dumpty is always chopping and cracking.

0:17:07.104 --> 0:17:10.424
<v Speaker 3>So there is this thing, boy, we can like because

0:17:10.504 --> 0:17:11.464
<v Speaker 3>we can place it.

0:17:12.664 --> 0:17:16.544
<v Speaker 4>In a safe place, and we can enjoy the macabre

0:17:16.704 --> 0:17:21.064
<v Speaker 4>aspect because we know it's not really it's not a

0:17:21.104 --> 0:17:21.784
<v Speaker 4>news story.

0:17:37.064 --> 0:17:41.024
<v Speaker 2>There's certainly a mix of playfulness and darkness at the

0:17:41.064 --> 0:17:46.144
<v Speaker 2>core of Maxwell's Silver Hammer. Despite the lightheartedness of the melody,

0:17:46.584 --> 0:17:50.304
<v Speaker 2>the band's recording sessions for the song weren't quite so light.

0:17:50.824 --> 0:17:55.024
<v Speaker 2>The other three Beatles publicly said they didn't like the track.

0:17:55.664 --> 0:17:58.664
<v Speaker 2>Ringo Starr even said it was the worst song they

0:17:58.824 --> 0:18:03.784
<v Speaker 2>ever recorded. Really, their frustration was less about the song

0:18:03.864 --> 0:18:09.464
<v Speaker 2>itself and more about McCartney's admitted perfectionism in this video.

0:18:09.864 --> 0:18:11.544
<v Speaker 3>And I was very keen on it. It took a

0:18:11.584 --> 0:18:13.144
<v Speaker 3>little bit long to record.

0:18:13.544 --> 0:18:17.144
<v Speaker 4>I remember the guys getting pissed with me occasionally, I

0:18:17.344 --> 0:18:21.944
<v Speaker 4>in particular, would take too long because I was trying

0:18:21.944 --> 0:18:23.584
<v Speaker 4>to get what was in my head.

0:18:23.944 --> 0:18:25.704
<v Speaker 1>I was just going to ask you about how at

0:18:25.744 --> 0:18:27.464
<v Speaker 1>this stage, how did at work.

0:18:28.104 --> 0:18:31.344
<v Speaker 9>Recording sessions were always good because no matter what our

0:18:31.504 --> 0:18:35.904
<v Speaker 9>personal troubles were, no matter what was sort of going

0:18:35.984 --> 0:18:38.504
<v Speaker 9>down a minute, we sat down to make a song,

0:18:39.824 --> 0:18:53.104
<v Speaker 9>we were good, well done boys. Our sort of skills

0:18:54.104 --> 0:18:57.744
<v Speaker 9>came out, and so I think we all enjoyed being

0:18:57.784 --> 0:19:01.944
<v Speaker 9>in this little skillful company where Ringo would do that,

0:19:02.144 --> 0:19:05.664
<v Speaker 9>and George would play that, and John would do that

0:19:05.824 --> 0:19:08.984
<v Speaker 9>which was slightly more eccentric, and I would do.

0:19:08.944 --> 0:19:12.304
<v Speaker 3>That on base or piano or whatever. So there was

0:19:12.344 --> 0:19:13.104
<v Speaker 3>a great joy that.

0:19:28.664 --> 0:19:40.304
<v Speaker 2>See Maxwell's silver Hammer from the beatles nineteen sixty nine

0:19:40.504 --> 0:19:42.344
<v Speaker 2>album Abbey Road.

0:19:45.744 --> 0:19:47.304
<v Speaker 1>In the next episode.

0:19:47.984 --> 0:19:54.264
<v Speaker 3>Day Keenooconai were.

0:19:56.664 --> 0:19:58.984
<v Speaker 6>Now It ex is though that he.

0:20:00.504 --> 0:20:05.104
<v Speaker 2>Yesterday one of the most covered songs in music history.

0:20:05.144 --> 0:20:07.464
<v Speaker 3>Yesday.

0:20:07.984 --> 0:20:12.584
<v Speaker 2>Suddenly that's next time on McCartney A Life in Lyrics.

0:20:15.984 --> 0:20:20.984
<v Speaker 2>McCartney A Life in Lyrics is a co production between iHeartMedia,

0:20:21.544 --> 0:20:24.264
<v Speaker 2>NPL and Pushkin Industries