Greetings and salutations Hivers. Today let’s go into another Three Tune Tuesday post.
As always, thanks to 
Today’s theme is simple: one of the strangest songs Paul McCartney ever wrote: Maxwell’s Silver Hammer. We’ll start with the Beatle’s original.
The Beatles - Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
There are “dark” Beatles songs — almost all of them by John — and then there’s this.
“Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” appears on Abbey Road, sandwiched among some of the most polished and emotionally rich music the band ever recorded. And right in the middle of that refinement, Paul drops a jaunty little music-hall number about a serial killer who solves his problems with a hammer.
It is absurd. It is catchy. It is disturbingly upbeat.
The melody bounces along like something from a children’s television program. The harmonies are sweet. The famous anvil strikes ring out almost comically. And meanwhile, Maxwell Edison is casually eliminating classmates and judges.
That contrast is the whole point.
Paul had always loved vaudeville, music hall, and theatrical silliness. Think “When I’m Sixty-Four”. But this one has teeth. It’s dark in subject matter, yet delivered with such a wink that you almost miss the body count. John famously disliked it, calling it one of Paul’s “granny songs”, but I think that dismissal misses something. The tonal dissonance is deliberate. It’s gallows humor wrapped in perfect pop craft.
If somehow you’ve never heard it:
Cheerful homicide has never sounded so tidy.
Steve Martin - Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
In 1978, when the Bee Gees attempted their ill-fated Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film, this was one of the stranger byproducts. Steve Martin took on Maxwell. Don’t miss the lead-in by George Burns.
The movie? It’s painful to watch, but this performance? It may be the only thing in that movie worth watching.
Martin leans into the theatrical absurdity. His performance feels like it belongs on a brightly lit stage with exaggerated gestures and raised eyebrows. The song becomes almost vaudeville again, which may have been Paul’s original impulse anyway. The exaggerated cheerfulness makes the violence feel even more cartoonish.
It’s camp, but self-aware camp.
If Maxwell must swing the hammer, Steve at least gives him jazz hands.
MonaLisa Twins - Maxwell’s Silver Hammer
I really like the MonaLisa Twins approach it differently. Clean harmonies, tight arrangement, and a respectful nod to the original feel with their vaudeville framing.
What I like here is how the sweetness of their voices sharpens the irony. The innocence of the sound clashes beautifully with the subject matter.
Proof that even the darkest joke can be sung with a smile.
Ukulele Cover (Japanese Artist)
And then we get to the most unexpected version of the three: a Japanese woman performing it on ukulele.
There is something uniquely charming about hearing this very British, very English music-hall oddity filtered through a soft ukulele arrangement. The instrument lightens everything even further. It becomes almost whimsical.
Which, again, makes the lyrics even stranger.
That’s the magic of this song. It survives reinterpretation because its core tension — bouncy tune vs. brutal narrative — is so strong. Change the instrumentation, change the voice, change the culture, and it still works.
A silver hammer travels surprisingly well across oceans.
So what’s your favorite version?
Do you see it as a throwaway “granny song”? Or as a slyly subversive piece of pop art hiding in plain sight?
Either way, it’s hard not to hum along. Even if you probably shouldn’t.
❦
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David is an American teacher and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku. He blogs here and at laspina.org. Write him on Bluesky. |