MovieChat Forums > Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) Discussion > Maxwell's Silver Hammer

Maxwell's Silver Hammer

posted 9 years ago by anthonylchamberlain
4 replies | jump to latest

This really should be entered on an "Abbey Road" forum but I could not find any.

In Maxwell's Silver Hammer they say Joan was quizzical and studied pataphysical science in the home. And Maxwell Edison, majoring in medicine, calls her on the phone.

Maxwell Edison majoring in medicine would imply that he was at least in college but probably in grad (i.e. medschool which is AFTER college at least in the USA) not in elementary or high school.

Yet a couple verses later they say "Back in school again, Maxwell plays the fool again. Teacher gets annoyed. ... she tells Max to stay when the class has gone away, writing fifty times I must not be so o-o-oh".

If he is in med school would the teacher really make him stay after school and write that fifty times? This makes him sound like a young school boy, but the opening lines make him sound post-grad.

I don't get it. Please explain to me.

[–] mrannah 9 years ago

in a lot of British colleges, even at the time the song was originally written, teachers were allowed to get away with a lot of punishments that would seem humiliating or abusive.

for a comparison, check out the series 'doctor in the house' which is about med students during that approximate time period.

[–] cyborgt800-1 9 years ago

You're trying to make sense of ANYTHING in this movie means you've probably done more drugs than everyone in this whole movie combined...I'll bet you hallucinate and not even know it? You probably see people that aren't even there...like Carol Channing! Pffft!

The validity of my answers is highly dependent on the intelligence of the question..or lack thereof.

[–] sueb1863 9 years ago

You're trying to make sense of ANYTHING in this movie means you've probably done more drugs than everyone in this whole movie combined...I'll bet you hallucinate and not even know it? You probably see people that aren't even there...like Carol Channing! Pffft!

The question is about the lyrics of the song, not the movie.

[–] cyborgt800-1 9 years ago

Well I guess since we're being so serious about it...I always thought it was obviously a flashBACK at school when Maxwell played the fool...

The validity of my answers is highly dependent on the intelligence of the question..or lack thereof.