What Paul McCartney’s ‘Hi, Hi, Hi,’ and The Beatles’ ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’ Have in Common
Paul McCartney‘s “Hi, Hi, Hi” and The Beatles‘ “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” have something in common. The “Yesterday” singer used the same inspiration for aspects of each song.
Alfred Jarry was a huge influence on the ‘Let It Be’ singer
In his book The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul wrote that the absurdist and dramatist Alfred Jarry “figures” in a couple of his songs, both in and out of The Beatles. Paul called Jarry a playful character.
The “Let It Be” singer first came across the dramatist when he heard a BBC Radio 3 production of his play Ubu Cocu, the sequel to the well-known Ubu Roi, around the time The Beatles were making Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967. Paul heard the radio production while driving down the highway one day, and a couple of aspects intrigued him.
Paul used aspects of Ubu Cocu in his song “Hi, Hi, Hi” and The Beatles’ “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”
‘Ubu Cocu’ inspired Paul McCartney to write an obscure lyric in The Beatles’ ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer’
In The Lyrics, Paul explained that when he heard a broadcast of Ubu Cocu on BBC Radio 3, a singular word inspired him.
Ubu Cocu is subtitled “a pataphysical extravaganza.” Paul said “pataphysical” is a word Jarry made up to “poke fun at toffee-nosed academics.”
Paul liked the term and decided to add it to The Beatles’ “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” He was thrilled that he could rhyme “quizzical” with “pataphysical.” Paul said, “I was being a little bit obscure on purpose.”
The average listener likely thinks that Paul made up the word just to rhyme. The Beatles’ songs often did that; they made up nonsensical words for their equally strange tunes. However, “pataphysical” came from an intellectual literary figure and his work.
Paul used a word from ‘Ubu Cocu’ in his song ‘Hi, Hi, Hi,’ but the BBC didn’t understand it and banned it
Jarry’s play was still in Paul’s mind when he wrote a Wings song years later. Ubu Cocu has another interesting word that sparked some ideas for Paul. One of the main characters in Ubu Cocu is called Achras. He’s a breeder of “polyhedra.” That’s why Paul used the term “polygon” in “Hi, Hi, Hi.” However, the BBC didn’t understand this and banned the song for being sexually suggestive.
“I believe they thought I was singing ‘body gun’ rather than ‘polygon.’ I’m not sure if that’s more, or less, suggestive,” Paul wrote.
The song’s lyrics go: “Well well, take off your face/ Recover from the trip you’ve been on/ I want you to lie on the bed/ Get you ready for my polygon/ I’m gonna do it to you, gonna do it/ Sweet banana, you’ve never been done/ Yes, I go like a rabbit, gonna grab it/ Gonna do it ’til the night is done.”
Even though the BBC banned the song, Paul didn’t exactly mind how people interpreted it and the rest of his tunes. Thanks to Ubu Cocu, fans got two of Paul’s greatest songs.
