Ever wondered what could be a possible explanation behind a timeless Beatles composition as different as ‘Why Don’t We Do It in the Road’?
This 1968 song from the White Album, written and sung by Paul McCartney, has it’s origins all the way back in the Indian town of Rishikesh.
McCartney wrote the song after seeing two monkeys copulating in the street while on retreat in Rishikesh, India, with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He marveled at the simplicity of this natural scenario when compared to the emotional turmoil of human relationships.
Beatles in Rishikesh, India with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
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He later said,
I was up on the flat roof meditating and I’d seen a troupe of monkeys walking along in the jungle. A male monkey just hopped on the back of this female and gave her one, as they say in the vernacular.
Within two or three seconds he hopped off again and looked around as if to say “It wasn’t me!” and she looked around as if there’d been some mild disturbance … And I thought … that’s how simple the act of procreation is … We have horrendous problems with it, and yet animals don’t.
It is known that after receiving the inspiration of the song, McCartney recorded almost five takes of the song in Studio One at Abbey Road Studios. Upon learning about the recording, Lennon was unhappy that McCartney recorded the song without him.
Lennon later termed McCartney’s decision as hurtful. He revealed that it represented the fragmented way in which the group’s members had taken to recording songs in 1968.
