In October of 1968, Paul McCartney wrote a catchy, whistle-along ballad titled, “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.” The track was released on the Beatles Abbey Road album in September of the following year.
But anyone who grew up the child of an ardent Beatles fan could have told you that. “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer,” stuck out in our house, of course, because our surname is in the title and repeated continuously throughout the song (drinking game, anyone?). McCartney has said that the song is a tongue-in-cheek analogy of those all-to-often times in life when things go wrong, seemingly out of nowhere. Just when you least expect it, “Bang! Bang! Maxwell’s Silver Hammer came down on his head ...”
But wait! This blog is not about the times when things go wrong. No, no! Not at all!
The title stuck primarily because of fond family memories of Abbey Road on loop from as early as I can remember until I graduated from high school. Second, the idea of a silver hammer appropriately reflects one of my own personal design philosophies, and a challenge which many of the most famous design movements attempted to solve. While function and purpose (i.e. the hammer) are at the foundation of any great design endeavor, the use of quality materials, employing superior craftsmanship, and attention to beauty (all ideas associated with precious metals such as silver) are tantamount to the outcome.
So viola! That’s how Silver Hammer was born. “Oh, oh, oh, oh ...”
