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TL;DR:

  • Paul McCartney used the word “pataphysical” in The Beatles’ Abbey Road because he likes surrealism.
  • He learned about the word through a friend who was a notable writer.
  • The Beatles’ Abbey Road was a huge hit in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Paul McCartney with a dog
Paul McCartney | Keystone-France / Contributor

Paul McCartney put the word “pataphysical” in a song from The Beatles’ Abbey Road. Notably, the phrase has comedic origins. Subsequently, Paul explained why he used the word.

Paul McCartney used a word in The Beatles’ ‘Abbey Road’ because he loves surrealism

In the 1997 book Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now, Paul discussed his friendship with countercultural author Barry Miles. Miles was interested in a surrealist movement called Pataphysics, a spoof of science.

“Miles and I often used to talk about the ‘Pataphysical Society,” he said. “So I put that in one of the Beatles songs, ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer:’ ‘Joan was quizzical, studied ‘pataphysical science in the home.’ Nobody knows what it means; I only explained it to Linda just the other day. That’s the lovely thing about it. I am the only person who ever put the name of pataphysics into the record charts, c’mon! It was great. I love those surreal little touches.”

Paul McCartney said John Lennon wasn’t The Beatles’ only avant-garde artist

Paul felt his relationship with Miles showed he had an avant-garde side. “John’s ended up as the one that’s the avant-garde guy because he did all that with Yoko,” he said. “Well, actually quite a few years before he’d ever considered it, when he was living out in the suburbs by the golf club with Cynthia [Lennon] and hanging out there, I was getting in with a guy called Miles and the people at Indica. I used to be at his house a lot of nights, just him and his wife.”

Paul felt Miles was fascinating because he was well-read. He also credited Miles with introducing him to the work of experimental novelist William S. Burroughs. Burroughs is known for countercultural books such as The Naked Lunch, The Wild Boys, and The Soft Machine.

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How ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ and ‘Abbey Road’ performed on the charts

While Paul said he was proud of getting “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” on the charts that didn’t exactly happen depending on how you look at it. The song itself never charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite this, the tune appeared on the megasucessful album Abbey Road. That album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for 11 weeks, remaining on the chart for 489 weeks in total.

According to The Official Charts Company, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” never charted in the United Kingdom either. On the other hand, Abbey Road topped the charts there for 17 weeks. It lasted on the chart for 97 weeks in total. Notably, Abbey Road became The Beatles’ biggest studio album in the US. and their second-biggest studio album in the U.K., following Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” contains the word “pataphysical” — a dubious achievement if there ever was one!

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