Martha My Dear

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Martha My Dear is a song on The Beatles' 1968 album, The Beatles. It was written by [[Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon/McCartney.

Contents

Writing

Paul McCartney had originally written Martha My Dear as a piano exercise fo himself. Paul recalled in his authorized biography, Many Years From Now, "When I taught myself piano I liked to see how far I could go, and this started life almost as a piece you'd learn as a piano lesson. It's quite hard for me to play, it's a two-handed thing, like a little set piece. In fact I remember one or two people being surprised that I'd played it because it's slightly above my level or competence really, but I wrote it as that, something a bit more complex for me to play. Then while I was blocking out words - you just mouth out sounds and some things come - I found the words 'Martha my dear'." Martha was the name of Paul's dog, an English Sheepdog puppy he had purchased in 1965, right after buying his house on Cavendish Avenue in London. She was Paul's first pet. Paul said of Martha, "She was a dear pet of mine. I remember John being amazed to see me being so loving to an animal. He said, 'I've never seen you like that before.' I've since thought, you know, he wouldn't have. It's only when you're cuddling around with a dog that you're in that mode, and she was a very cuddly dog." Some interpreted the lyrics to be about Paul's fiancee Jane Asher, whom he was set to marry in 1968. Paul revaled in 1997 that the song was actually about his dog. Paul said in Many Years From Now, "It's a communication of some sort of affection but in a slightly abstract way - 'You silly girl, look what you've done,' all that sort of stuff. These songs grow. Whereas it would appear to anybody else to be a song to a girl called Martha, it's actually a dog, and our relationship was platonic, believe me."

Recording

Martha My Dear was recorded on October 4 and October 5, 1968 at Trident Studios in Soho, London, using eight track facilities. On the first day, October 4, vocals, piano and drums were recorded. Later, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM, brass and string parts were recorded. These parts were scored by George Martin, who had been given a demo by McCartney to write the score to. From 12:00 to 4:30 AM, Paul rerecorded his lead vocals and added handclaps. He completed the song the next day when he recorded the bass and lead guitar parts.

Recording Sessions


Personnel

The Beatles

Guest Musicians

Production

Available Versions

Available On

Cover Versions

Source

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