In 1968, The Beatles released The White Album, and with it, a song called “Martha My Dear.”
Many thought it was a song written about Jane Asher, McCartney’s fiancé until they ended things in mid-1968. However, in 1997, he revealed that “Martha My Dear” was inspired by and written about Martha, his dog.
In 1965, after purchasing a house on Cavendish Avenue in London, McCartney got his first pet – an Old English sheepdog puppy he called Martha.
In an interview, McCartney recalled, “She was a dear pet of mine. I remember John being amazed to see me being so loving to an animal.
He said, ‘I’ve never seen you like that before.’ I’ve since thought, you know, he wouldn’t have. It’s only when you’re cuddling around with a dog that you’re in that mode, and she was a very cuddly dog.”
About the song, McCartney said, “It’s a communication of some sort of affection but in a slightly abstract way – ‘You silly girl, look what you’ve done,’ all that sort of stuff. These songs grow. Whereas it would appear to anybody else to be a song to a girl called Martha, it’s actually a dog, and our relationship was platonic, believe me.”
The song was recorded over two days on October 4th and 5th, 1968 at Trident Studios in London.
Here are some of the lyrics:
“Take a good look around you
Take a good look, you’re bound to see
That you and me were meant to be
For each other
Silly girl”
