Music

Paul McCartney's new song faced criticism for including gender stereotypes. He shared his thoughts behind it.

Paul McCartney recently released the song “Momma Gets By” on his 20th solo album, The Boys of Dungeon Lane. It is the closing song on the album, and it is about a wife who handles the majority of housework while her husband “gets high.” He defended the song after people accused him of promoting gender stereotypes.  

McCartney’s new album includes the song “Momma Gets By,” which is about a woman who works to support her family.

“Momma gets by while papa gets high / She makes enough to raise a family / She’s working all day to bring in the pay / She’s taking good care of me.”

He then goes to on to say that his behavior doesn’t bother her.

“She doesn’t care, she’s got her own philosophy of life / It wasn’t too long ago that she agreed to bе his wife / And even though hе’s complicated, she takes it in her stride / What are his silly faults compared to what she feels inside?”

In the chorus, he confirms that “she loves him.” One review from Record Collector noted that this song includes “gender stereotyping.” Other commenters noted that the woman shouldn’t put up with this behavior from her husband. McCartney defended his song as a work of fiction.

“Sometimes you write songs about somebody you know, or an experience that you’ve had,” McCartney said, per NME. “And sometimes you just make ‘em up ‘cause you’re in a more theatrical mood.”

He explained his thought process while working on the song.

“I imagined this [track] like a play,” he said. “I don’t know the characters, but I’m imagining the woman and then the song is told from the perspective of the kid. So it just kind of unfolded itself. I was imagining the musical Porgy and Bess and that sort of thing. It’s like a little theatrical story; a little musical theatre moment about this woman.”

McCartney also said that he views the main character as a strong woman because she is working hard to support her family.

“Some people would say, ‘Oh, she’s a bit of a sucker ‘cause the guy’s a bit of a waster.’ But for me she’s a very strong woman and it explains that in the song. I’m very proud of her and women like her.”