10 Songs Everyone Misunderstood As Kids
8. The Beatles - Maxwell's Silver Hammer
As the Beatles' sound got more and more experimental, the band still saw themselves as entertainers as much as they were musicians. Coming at the beginning of the band's seminal Abbey Road, "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" seems like a song of absolute whimsy, with playful hammer sounds and jaunty piano to inspire kids to sing along.
Though Paul McCartney was definitely going for a more jovial feel, the actual lyrical content is something ripped straight out of a horror movie. Our main character Maxwell seems like a nice enough guy at first as he invites a lady friend out to dinner, but things go sideways when he just wanted to meet her to he could bludgeon her to death with his hammer.
As Maxwell returns to school, he then proceeds to murder his teacher after she gives him detention after class. With the death toll rising, Maxwell is finally brought to court, but is never fully sentenced after he kills the presiding judge. For one of the band's most upbeat songs, there is a surprising body count for the tune's characters. It may seem all bright and sunny in the instrumental, but the song's story is a perfect day as told by Patrick Bateman.