Beatles – Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?

This song is absurd and hilarious. Paul wrote this song and got right to the point. Do what in the road Paul? We might never know. Well actually at the bottom of the post he does explain it…but a warning…you cannot un-see what you read. 

I’ve always liked it because it is fun. Some people try to take it seriously but it’s not meant to be…a song with two lines to the complete song…that is being a minimalist or little lazy. The first rumor I read about this song was that Paul was desperate for the Beatles to tour again and this was his message to the band…Why don’t we do it in the road? It turned out to be not true…it was inspired by two monkeys…not Monkees…see the Paul quote on down. 

It’s a fun song that sounds more like a John song than a Paul. It will never win a best Beatle song award but it’s fun and fits like a glove on the eclectic White Album. That is what I love about the White Album. Listening to the album you never know what is coming next. It still has a sound that threads all the songs together though. 

Paul and Ringo were the only two playing on this song. John Lennon liked the track but later he said he felt hurt when Paul would leave him out on a track and just do something himself. Paul’s voice is outstanding on this one…very aggressive. This is not the “Yesterday” Paul.

This is interesting…The Beatles were not touring when this was released and  Paul McCartney didn’t play it live until October 8, 2016 when he performed it at the Desert Trip festival with Neil Young.

Paul McCartney: “The idea behind ‘Why Don’t We Do It In The Road’ came from something I’d seen in Rishikesh, I was up on the flat roof meditating and I’d seen a troupe of monkeys walking along in the jungle and a male just hopped on to the back of this female and gave her one, as they say in the vernacular. Within two or three seconds he hopped off again, and looked around as if to say, ‘It wasn’t me,’ and she looked around as if there had been some mild disturbance but thought, ‘Huh, I must have imagined it,’ and she wandered off.”

“And I thought, ‘Bloody hell, that puts it all into a cocked hat.’ That’s how simple the act of procreation is, this bloody monkey just hopping on and hopping off. There is an urge, they do it, and it’s done with. And it’s that simple. We have horrendous problems with it, and yet animals don’t. So that was basically it. ‘Why Don’t We Do It In The Road’ could have applied to either f*cking or sh*tting, to put it roughly. Why don’t we do either of them in the road? Well, the answer is we’re civilized and we don’t. But the song was just to pose that question. ‘Why Don’t We Do It In The Road’ was a primitive statement to do with sex or to do with freedom really. I like it, it’s just so outrageous that I like it.

Paul McCartney and Neil Young…doing it in the road. A very rare live performance. 

Why Don’t We Do It In The Road

Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?

No one will be watching us
Why don’t we do it in the road?

Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?

No one will be watching us
Why don’t we do it in the road?

Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it, do it in the road?
Why don’t we do it in the road?

No one will be watching us
Why don’t we do it in the road?

 

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

36 thoughts on “Beatles – Why Don’t We Do It In The Road?”

  2. This fit on the White Album’s mixture of songs- had it been on another album–I can’t imagine it on something else- would have been out of place.

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    1. You are right…even though it’s out there…they always manage to make the albums feel like a whole…the songs relate to each other in sound and feel but that is it.

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  4. I’ve always liked the song, and after reading Paul’s comment on it, I like it even more. It gives what seems like a throwaway song much more depth. I really like the Paul-Neil video you include here. These two guys are superstars and still going strong!

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  5. Perfectly valid opinions which many share, but have to admit, from here it’s an example of why I figure the White Album would have been much better if it was just one LP and some of these tunes would have stayed in the vaults, or at most been b-sides to singles.

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    1. Maybe it’s becasue I grew up with it but I love these off beat songs like this one, Cry Baby Cry, Sexy Sadie and others. They didn’t pull any singles off of the album anyway…Back in the USSR wasn’t even a single. That is one of the reasons it sold so well.

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      2. Oh yes….I’ve been in both places. Yes we have almost half of it done…ripping up the old carpet takes forever and getting all the staples and nail boards out.

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  9. This is where I brag and say I was in the audience for that performance by Paul and Neil…exactly 5 years ago this past week. Thanks for including that video! It’s a great song, for all of the things you wrote about.

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    1. Believe it or not…I thought you were when I wrote it…I was pretty sure that was the festival you went to. You showed pictures of it before I think.

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    1. Yes it is….I can’t believe that was the first time he ever played it live…I know it wasn’t a hit but I thought he would have played it before then.

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      1. Reminds me of a National Geographic show I saw about a species of primates that had females as leaders, instead of males. Every conflict was settled with sex. Pissed off? Here. Have “some.” 😂

        It was like watching an X-Rated movie, filmed in trees.

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      2. LOL…that would probably work in our world.
        No wait…as soon another leader would come along…no it wouldn’t work.

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