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Released in 2026

Momma Gets By

Written by Paul McCartney

Last updated on June 17, 2026

Album This song officially appears on the The Boys Of Dungeon Lane Official album.

Timeline This song was officially released in 2026

Master release

Related session

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

“Momma Gets By” is a track from the 2026 album “The Boys Of Dungeon Lane“. The song tells the story of a couple through the eyes of their child: the father is lazy, while the mother is a strong and resilient woman who supports him despite his shortcomings.

Paul McCartney explained that the song is entirely fictional and not based on anyone he knows personally. He cited George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess” as an inspiration for the storytelling approach.

Sometimes in writing a song, you don’t draw on memories or or anything in particular except just you’re making up a story. Like ‘Lady Madonna,’ it’s about not particularly people I know.

Paul McCartney – From Variety, April 17, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session in Los Angeles, April 16, 2026

This idea of raising a family kind of led my mind onto this other thing where sometimes I will, like, just make up characters. It’s one of the things I liked to do in the Beatles.

I remember George saying to me, “You do that,” he said, “You know, I never do that.” If you think about it, George’s songs mainly… it’s about something, something very specific, not just some dreamy character.

I sometimes will make up a story about some people, like it’s a little play. And on this next song I did that just imagining a woman who’s got a kid and the kid sort of is talking in the song, but the woman is like the strong person in the family and the guy is a little bit of a waster. So it’s just a little made-up scenario. I was kind of thinking along the lines of the old musical Porgy and Bess, which I don’t know why that came into my mind, but it did. So again, it’s about raising a family, but the woman is very strong and I like that about this song. So it is called “Momma Gets By.”

Paul McCartney – From Exclusive Commentary Edition Digital Album – Recorded during the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session at Abbey Road, May 5, 2026

There’s a song, Momma Gets By, towards the end of the album. That’s just a flight of fantasy. I’m imagining this woman faced with this guy who seems a bit lazy. I’m making up two characters in a play. I’m messing around with them and thinking, Well, what was she thinking? Why does she think that? It just turned into that song. You take bits of yourself, bits of the life you know, and that’s what’s interesting to me as a writer – writing about what is or what was or what could be.

Paul McCartney – From MOJO, May 14, 2026

The closing track starts as a lush, dramatic piano ballad that expand to strings and an orchestra. “Sometimes, writing a song, you don’t draw on memory, you’re making it up,” McCartney said, referencing writing “Lady Madonna.” Same with “Momma Gets By,” which includes the opening lines, “Momma gets by, while papa gets high.” But even though papa is a wastrel, Momma loves him with “all her heart and soul,” as they struggle to put food on the table. McCartney sings from the perspective of their young son, though he stressed again this was not about his parents.

From Billboard, April 17, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session in Los Angeles, April 16, 2026

For this, he was imagining a couple where “the mother is like the strong one and the father is a bit of a wastrel… It’s actually written from the point of view of their kid, (but) it’s nothing to do with my parents, honestly. It’s a little story I always had in my mind, like ‘Porgy and Bess.’”

From Variety, April 17, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session in Los Angeles, April 16, 2026

“George said I was good at making up characters and I do that a lot,” says Paul. This song had him thinking about “raising a family” with a struggling mum and dad who is “a bit of a waster”.

A piano ballad that builds with strings and an orchestra before the conclusion of the album.

From Mirror, May 5, 2026 – From the “Boys of Dungeon Lane” listening session in London, May 5, 2026
A countdown leading to May 29, the release date of the album, was organized on Paul McCartney’s social media accounts. Each day, details of a new track — including songwriting and recording credits — were revealed in reverse running order, with Track 10 unveiled ten days before the album’s release, Track 9 nine days before, and so on, culminating with Track 1 on the eve of release.

Lyrics

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

Giving me every opportunity

And if it rains

She never complains

She's tough enough to make it through the storm

Papa gets back

And heads for the sack

As soon as he steps inside the kitchen door

But she doesn't mind

She's seen it all before

She doesn't care

She's got her own philosophy of life

It wasn't too long ago that she agreed to be his wife

And even though he's complicated

She takes it in her stride

What are his silly faults compared to what she feels inside?

She loves him

She loves him with all her heart and soul

All her heart and soul

Because she loves him

She loves him with all her heart and soul

All her heart and soul

Well, she doesn't care

She's got her own philosophy of life

It wasn't too long ago when she agreed to be his wife

And even though he's complicated

She takes it in her stride

What are his silly faults compared to what she feels inside?

She loves him

She loves him with all her heart and soul

All her heart and soul

Because she loves him

Yeah, she loves him, with all her heart and soul

With all her heart and soul

Momma gets by

While papa gets high

Momma gets by

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Momma Gets By”

Paul McCartney writing

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David Camacho • Jun 13, 2026 • 1 week ago

Pufff this information is too useful to know because the first time I heard it I didn't know how to really interpret it and more the "gets high" because it has other meanings but it's good to know that it's not entirely biographical

Erik Asphaug • Jun 19, 2026 • 6 days ago

I love the complicated characters of Paul's songs like this one. You are left thinking about this woman, and how to reach her. There is no moral here, just that "momma gets by" because of her love for the child, for whom she keeps it all together and accepts the selfish shortcomings of her husband. Like great poems you are left to roam among the ambiguities of real people, who are created of whole cloth in a few stanzas.

The PaulMcCartney Project • Jun 19, 2026 • 5 days ago

Well said, Erik.

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