05/31/2026
"'Martha My Dear' is a song…from the 1968 double album 'The Beatles' (also known as the 'White Album.') Credited to Lennon–McCartney, the song was written solely by Paul McCartney, and was named after his Old English Sheepdog, Martha." (Wikipedia)
"In 1997, McCartney revealed that Martha had been the inspiration behind the song, and that it was not a message of love to Jane Asher, who McCartney intended to marry in 1968 (who many listeners thought the song was about.)
He said: 'It's a communication of some sort of affection but in a slightly abstract way…."You silly girl, look what you've done," all that sort of stuff. These songs grow. Whereas it would appear to anybody else to be a song to a girl called Martha, it's actually a dog, and our relationship was platonic, believe me.'
About Martha, Paul said:
'She was a dear pet of mine. I remember John (Lennon) being amazed to see me being so loving to an animal. He said, "I've never seen you like that before." I've since thought, you know, he wouldn't have. It's only when you're cuddling around with a dog that you're in that mode, and she was a very cuddly dog.'" (beatlesbilbe.com)
"In 1993, Paul and Iain Macmillan were back at Abbey Road to recreate the iconic image for his album 'Paul Is Live.' This time, Paul was wearing shoes and accompanied by Arrow, his Old English Sheepdog and the offspring of Martha, the dog he famously owned during the 1960s." (vintag.es)
Pictures by:
Robert Saucier (robert_saucier on Flickr)
Banio_z_Polski on Flickr
Luis M. Salazar
Raquel Fialho
Iain Macmillan
