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8 July 2017
11.01am
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Beatlebug
Find me where ye echo lays
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This is my song a-hard-days-night-george-9

I love it, it’s such a jaunty little tune. Never fails to cheer me up.

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8 July 2017
3.25pm
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QuarryMan
Rishikesh
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I absolutely adore this song. I figured it was about a dog immediately. 

“Though I spend my days in conversation” references probably the boredom on Martha’s part when Paul can’t spend his time with her. 

“Look what you’ve done” is probably Martha having knocked something over or something.

“when you find yourself in the thick of it” is obviously a hair based pun. 

Help yourself to a bit of what is all around you” just sort of shreds any idea that it’s about Jane. 

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I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

8 July 2017
5.56pm
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Dark Overlord
Nowhere Land
Rishikesh
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I wonder if Paul played guitar on this song, i used to think that he did everything on this song until i saw a picture from this session containing George on his Gibson Les Paul which means one of 3 things, either George plays guitar on his Gibson and Paul plays everything else, which seems most likely, Paul wiped George’s guitar part and overdubbed his own the following day, or both George and Paul play guitar on the song, but i doubt this is the case considering that i only hear 1 guitar part.

If you're reading this, you are looking for something to do.

9 July 2017
6.28am
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QuarryMan
Rishikesh
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Dark Overlord said
I wonder if Paul played guitar on this song, i used to think that he did everything on this song until i saw a picture from this session containing George on his Gibson Les Paul which means one of 3 things, either George plays guitar on his Gibson and Paul plays everything else, which seems most likely, Paul wiped George’s guitar part and overdubbed his own the following day, or both George and Paul play guitar on the song, but i doubt this is the case considering that i only hear 1 guitar part.  

The guitar part certainly sounds like George’s style, that sort of fast palm muted strums that he uses in Taxman and You Won’t See Me

I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

11 November 2017
5.26pm
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Ahhh Girl
sailing on a winedark open sea
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Martha as a puppy: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..-much.html

Martha-as-a-puppy.jpgImage Enlarger


Caption: Paul McCartney pictured with his puppy and Ann Arch’s sheepdog ‘Cuddles’ in the mid 1960’s at her home in High Wycombe

Some of the article:

…the Beatles’ 1968 song Martha My Dear might have ended up being called Knickers My Dear.

Two years earlier, the star had decided to fulfil his dream of owning a dog and contacted breeder Ann Davis.
Sir Paul, who was then dating Jane Asher, turned up in his Aston Martin DB6 at her home, where he posed with her sheepdog Cuddles before driving back to London with his new puppy, priced at ten guineas.

A few weeks later, the breeder received a telephone call asking if she could look after the pup while the Fab Four were travelling abroad. The great-grandmother said yesterday: ‘He was very attached to the puppy and he didn’t want to leave it with his housekeeper.’ But when the dog arrived at her home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, she was in for a shock when she was told what the star had called it.

‘Paul being Paul had decided to call the dog “Knickers”,’ the 84-year-old – now Mrs Arch after remarrying – said.
The name is thought to have been coined after the pup had an accident on Sir Paul’s lap. She added: ‘I told him that if I was going to look after her, I wasn’t standing at the back door shouting out “Knickers!” – so I called her Nicky.’
After keeping the pup for a month, she was returned to London, where Miss Asher had been ‘disgusted’ by the choice of name.

As a result, Knickers became Martha, and the future path of pop music (or at least a small part of it) was changed for ever.

In a 1997 biography, he said Martha resembled ‘a huge tangled ball of wool,’ …

Now in retirement, Mrs Arch cherishes her meeting with the pop icon.

She said: ‘He was so down-to-earth, so approachable. They were one of the new pop groups who were really big in the Sixties, but I was busy with raising a family in those days.

‘My son said, “What’s that car?” when he saw the Aston Martin parked outside, and Paul just threw him the keys and said, “Go and have a play with it!” – but I didn’t let him, he was only a little boy.’

Her son Bill, now 62, recalled: ‘It was an unforgettable day – for a young lad, an Aston Martin was quite exciting. Paul McCartney was the icing* on the cake.’

Kid can have the car, I’ll take the icing. LOL.

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12 November 2017
4.42am
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QuarryMan
Rishikesh
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Ahhh Girl said
Martha as a puppy: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new…..-much.html

Martha-as-a-puppy.jpgImage Enlarger


Caption: Paul McCartney pictured with his puppy and Ann Arch’s sheepdog ‘Cuddles’ in the mid 1960’s at her home in High Wycombe

Some of the article:

…the Beatles’ 1968 song Martha My Dear might have ended up being called Knickers My Dear.

Two years earlier, the star had decided to fulfil his dream of owning a dog and contacted breeder Ann Davis.
Sir Paul, who was then dating Jane Asher, turned up in his Aston Martin DB6 at her home, where he posed with her sheepdog Cuddles before driving back to London with his new puppy, priced at ten guineas.

A few weeks later, the breeder received a telephone call asking if she could look after the pup while the Fab Four were travelling abroad. The great-grandmother said yesterday: ‘He was very attached to the puppy and he didn’t want to leave it with his housekeeper.’ But when the dog arrived at her home in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, she was in for a shock when she was told what the star had called it.

‘Paul being Paul had decided to call the dog “Knickers”,’ the 84-year-old – now Mrs Arch after remarrying – said.
The name is thought to have been coined after the pup had an accident on Sir Paul’s lap. She added: ‘I told him that if I was going to look after her, I wasn’t standing at the back door shouting out “Knickers!” – so I called her Nicky.’
After keeping the pup for a month, she was returned to London, where Miss Asher had been ‘disgusted’ by the choice of name.

As a result, Knickers became Martha, and the future path of pop music (or at least a small part of it) was changed for ever.

In a 1997 biography, he said Martha resembled ‘a huge tangled ball of wool,’ …

Now in retirement, Mrs Arch cherishes her meeting with the pop icon.

She said: ‘He was so down-to-earth, so approachable. They were one of the new pop groups who were really big in the Sixties, but I was busy with raising a family in those days.

‘My son said, “What’s that car?” when he saw the Aston Martin parked outside, and Paul just threw him the keys and said, “Go and have a play with it!” – but I didn’t let him, he was only a little boy.’

Her son Bill, now 62, recalled: ‘It was an unforgettable day – for a young lad, an Aston Martin was quite exciting. Paul McCartney was the icing* on the cake.’

Kid can have the car, I’ll take the icing. LOL.  

Imagine having Macca turn up at your house. I would probably faint.

The following people thank QuarryMan for this post:

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I've been up on the mountain, and I've seen his wondrous grace,
I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound. 

12 November 2017
10.45am
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Billy Rhythm
Shea Stadium
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This is my personal favourite Martha Moment…  The “hold your head up you silly girl” bit applies here…  just love how she steals the spotlight from Mary Hopkin…  such a lovely performance…  the show begins at the  0:59 sec  mark of the video:

 

 

…:-)

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22 December 2020
4.23pm
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Joe
Pepperland
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St Vincent covering Martha My Dear :

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23 March 2024
1.38pm
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LucyInTheSkyWithHackneyDiamonds
Ed Sullivan Show
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I count this song as one of the Animal Tracks on the White Album .

I do believe that the lyrics talk about Paul’s English Sheepdog. He calls to her as she fetches a stick at the park “please remember”…. He talk about shaking hands “hold your hand up, you silly girl”.

Everytime I see a sheepdog with Paul, I think, “It’s Martha!”

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23 March 2024
4.09pm
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Ahhh Girl
sailing on a winedark open sea
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@LucyInTheSkyWithHackneyDiamonds, Paul did have a sheepdog named Martha. Read Joe’s pages for each song, and you’ll discover lots of cool information. He has a link to the songs on the top of the Forum threads. Just look for this at the top:

blog-posts.JPGImage Enlarger

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