10 Mistakes That Made It Onto Famous Rock Songs
2. Desmond Does What? - The Beatles' Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
For all their serious songs about love and peace on Earth, The Beatles' back catalogue is also filled with some utter nonsense.
One of their most divisive tracks is the ska-inspired Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da from The White Album, which was written by Paul McCartney and detested by John Lennon and George Harrison.
Ringo was probably just wishing everyone would stop arguing, like a child of divorce.
With a jaunty piano line and overly-saccharin vocal performance from Macca, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da tells the story of a man and a woman who fall in love, have a couple of kids, and live happily ever after. The characters are Desmond, a market trader, and Molly, who performs in a band, although McCartney clearly forgot this towards the end of the song.
In the final verse, Paul sings that Molly lets the children lend a hand in the marketplace, whilst Desmond "stays at home and does his pretty face."
Whilst this could easily have been chalked up to Beatles whimsy, it was actually just a big fat error from the staunch perfectionist McCartney.
To be honest, it fits the corny vibe of the song quite nicely.