Eat at Home

"Eat at Home" is a 1971 single by Paul and Linda McCartney that also appeared on their album Ram from the same year. The song, a standard rock number, features McCartney on lead vocals, electric guitar, bass and drums and Linda McCartney performing backing vocals.[1]

"Eat at Home"
Single by Paul and Linda McCartney
from the album Ram
B-side"Smile Away"
Released1971 (Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Japan only)
Recorded16 October 1970
GenreRock
Length3:18
LabelApple
Songwriter(s)Paul and Linda McCartney
Producer(s)Paul and Linda McCartney
Paul and Linda McCartney singles chronology
"The Back Seat of My Car"
(1971)		 "Eat at Home"
(1971)		 "Give Ireland Back to the Irish"
(1972)
Ram track listing
12 tracks
Side one
  1. "Too Many People"
  2. "3 Legs"
  3. "Ram On"
  4. "Dear Boy"
  5. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey"
  6. "Smile Away"
Side two
  1. "Heart of the Country"
  2. "Monkberry Moon Delight"
  3. "Eat at Home"
  4. "Long Haired Lady"
  5. "Ram On"
  6. "The Back Seat of My Car"

Lyrics and music

Paul McCartney described the lyrics of "Eat at Home" as "a plea for home cooking – it's obscene."[2] Beatle biographer John Blaney described it as fitting within the theme of many of McCartney's songs of the period, "extolling the virtues of domestic bliss and...the love of a good woman."[3] Music professor Vincent Benitez also considers the theme to be a celebration of Paul's domestic bliss with Linda in the wake of the Beatles' breakup.[4]

"Eat at Home" is in the key of A major.[4] It is mostly a three-chord rock song, with predominant use of the tonic chord of A, the dominant chord of E and the subdominant chord of D.[4] It also employs the leading-tone chord of G in turnaround sections between the verses and the bridge passages.[4] Blaney described the music as being an "upbeat slice of retro-pop" that was influenced by McCartney's hero Buddy Holly.[3]

Reception

Music critic Stewart Mason of AllMusic described it as McCartney's homage to Buddy Holly,[5] and Stephen Thomas Erlewine, also of Allmusic, described it as "a rollicking, winking sex song."[6] In a contemporary review for RAM, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone described "Eat at Home" as one of two only good songs he enjoyed on the album, also comparing it to Buddy Holly.[7] Goldmine contributor John Borack rated "Eat at Home" among his top 10 McCartney solo songs, praising its melody, its "slightly country-influence guitar pickin’" and Denny Seiwell's "pounding" drums.[8]

Although John Lennon was highly critical of many of the songs on Ram, feeling they were veiled attacks on him, he publicly admitted that he enjoyed this particular song quite a bit.[9]

Although not released as a single in the UK or the US, "Eat at Home" was released as a single in several European countries, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and reached #7 in the Netherlands and #6 in Norway.[1][10] Even in the US it received considerable radio airplay without having been released as a single.[2]

Cover versions

Little Joy often included a cover of the song in their setlist during the Little Joy tour.

Personnel

Notes
  1. McGee 2003, p. 196.
  2. Madinger, C. & Easter, M. (2000). Eight Arms to Hold You. 44.1 Productions. p. 159. ISBN 0-615-11724-4.
  3. Blaney, J. (2007). Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work. Jawbone Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-1-906002-02-2.
  4. Benitez, V.P. (2010). The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years. Praeger. pp. 32–33. ISBN 978-0-313-34969-0.
  5. Mason 2009.
  6. Erlewine 2009.
  7. Landau, Jon (8 July 1971). "Ram". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
  8. Borack, John (30 April 2012). "Listen to What the Man Said - My 10 Favorite Paul McCartney Solo Tracks and Why I Love 'Em". Goldmine. Retrieved 2020-07-01.
  9. Fanelli, Damian (17 June 2018). "Paul McCartney: 15 of His Best Under-the-Radar Solo Songs". guitarworld.com. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  10. "Eat at Home". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2011-10-13.

References
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