Skip to main content

TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney said the title of The Beatles’ “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” has two meanings.
  • He said the song is “a primitive statement.”
  • George Harrison discussed the recording of the song.
Paul McCartney with a dog during The Beatles' "Why Don't We Do It in the Road" era
The Beatles’ Paul McCartney | Les Lee / Stringer

Paul McCartney revealed he was trying to ask a question when he wrote The Beatles‘ “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” In addition, George Harrison discussed the recording of the song. “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” appeared on a hit album.

Paul McCartney said The Beatles’ ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’ has vulgar origins

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed a track from The White Album. “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’ could have applied to either f****** or s*******, to put it roughly,” he said. “Why don’t we do either of them in the road?

“Well, the answer is we’re civilized and we don’t,” he continued. “But the song was just to pose that question. ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’ was a primitive statement to do with sex or to do with freedom really.”

George Harrison explained what happened in the studio when The Beatles worked on ‘The White Album’

According to the book George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters, George once said he wrote “Something” while Paul was down the hall writing “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” In a 1992 interview, George revisited this anecdote.

“The one person was in [studio] No. 2 in Abbey Road singing something — I don’t mean the song, somebody singing a tune,” he said. “And I think John was in No. 2 doing something else, and that kind of thing was happening.

“We were trying to get a lot more done quickly, and it was during that period, I was in an empty studio, I just went in and I kind of wrote that tune,” George recalled. “It just came about like that.”

Related

This Madonna Song Was Inspired by a Song From The Beatles’ ‘White Album’

How ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?’ performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” was not a single. Therefore, it never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, The White Album became one of The Beatles’ biggest albums. It topped the Billboard 200 for nine weeks, lasting a total of 215 weeks on the chart.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” never charted in the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, The White Album was No. 1 in the U.K. for eight weeks. It remained on the chart for 37 weeks altogether.

For a song from a classic album, “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road?” has surprisingly vulgar origins.

Best in Entertainment