One day in the car, Paul McCartney heard a BBC production of the absurdist play “Ubu Cocu” by french writer Alfred Jarry.  Taken by the rebelliousness of the radio play, McCartney wrote a sweet-sounding tune about a murderous medical student that seemingly lives in the same universe as Ubu: “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”

“McCartney: A Life in Lyrics” is a co-production between iHeart Media, MPL and Pushkin Industries.

The series was produced by Pejk Malinovski and Sara McCrea; written by Sara McCrea; edited by Dan O’Donnell and Sophie Crane; mastered by Jason Gambrell with assistance from Jake Gorski and sound design by Pejk Malinovski. The series is executive produced by Leital Molad, Justin Richmond, Lee Eastman and Scott Rodger.

Thanks to Lee Eastman, Richard Ewbank, Scott Rodger, Aoife Corbett and Steve Ithell.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.