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SongsThe Beatles (The White Album)Why Don't We Do It in the Road?
The Beatles (The White Album) album cover

Why Don't We Do It in the Road?

1968 · The Beatles (The White Album)

“No one will be watching us”

A McCartney 12-bar blues for the White Album, recorded solo at EMI Studio 2 with Paul on every instrument. Lyric is one shouted innuendo couplet inspired by two monkeys mating in a Rishikesh road.
VinylCD

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Year1968
AlbumThe Beatles (The White Album)
Track15 · Side 2
Duration1:41
Songwriter(s)McCartneyCredited as Lennon-McCartney
Lead VocalPaul
RecordedOctober 9 – October 10, 1968
ReleasedNovember 22, 1968
Song familyWritten in India

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Text51 tags

Motif

StreetFound inspirationPleaSexQuestion

Title

Pronoun in titleLong titleNegation in title

Vocabulary

Casual languageMinimal lyricsPositive toneLimited vocabulary

Narrative

ImperativeConversationalFirst person

Lyrical device

Double meaning

Rhyme type

Extrametrical rhyme

Song form

StrophicNo verse-chorus12-bar blues

Sections

No chorusStandard verses (2-4)Has intro

Repetition

Recurring verseConsecutive lineRecurring line
Word cloud

Recurring words

roadwatchingit inno onethe roadwe dowhy don'twill bein the roadno one will

Cover-shared words

ahitoneuswe

Lyric shape

in the [NOUN] [WORD]

Cover-shared shape

[VERB] us[WORD] itbe [VERB]the [NOUN]we [WORD]in the [NOUN]the [NOUN] [WORD]

Rhyme scheme

Unique rhyme scheme

Line length

Unique line length

Distinctive word

d-do
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Sources & references

Tags on this page are original analysis, transcribed and cross-checked against the fine work of others: Alan W. Pollack's “Notes on…” series, the Beatles Complete Scores (Hal Leonard), Mark Lewisohn's session histories, Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head, Dave Rybaczewski's Beatles Music History and Andy Babiuk's Beatles Gear for the instruments and studio equipment, and others besides - then verified by ear against the recordings. Full bibliography: Sources & thanks.

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