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Released in 1971

Monkberry Moon Delight

Written by Paul McCartney • Linda McCartney

Last updated on June 6, 2020

Album This song officially appears on the Ram LP.

Timeline This song was officially released in 1971

Timeline This song was written, or began to be written, in 1970, when Paul McCartney was 28 years old)

Master album

Related sessions

This song was recorded during the following studio sessions:

Related interviews

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“Monkberry Moon Delight” is a song from 1971 album “Ram” credited to Paul & Linda McCartney. From Beatles Bible:

Inspired by his children’s use of wordplay, Monkberry Moon Delight featured lyrics chosen more for their phonetic sound than their meaning.

The title was derived from an alternative word for milk that the McCartney children used. Further inspiration came from the 1959 Leiber and Stoller song Love Potion No. 9.

Love Potion No. 9 featured a similarly surreal tale as McCartney’s later song, in which a man looking for love speaks to a gypsy who sells him the titular potion. It causes him to fall in love with all he sees, including a policeman on the street.

Monkberry Moon Delight takes the surrealism a step further, defying interpretation and logic to present an Edward Lear-esque stroll through the lighter recesses of McCartney’s imagination. As with The Beatles’ Glass Onion, it was almost a direct challenge for those fans who looked avidly for hidden meanings in his songs to spend hours poring over his wild free-association in search of autobiographical clues.

While the music is a light canter, McCartney’s vocals were strident and strained, recalling his classic rock ‘n’ roll performances in such songs as Long Tall Sally and Oh! Darling. Linda McCartney provided the perfect counterpoint with her backing vocals, delivered without affectation.

Monkberry Moon Delight was one of two Ram songs included in Blackbird Singing, McCartney’s 2001 collection of lyrics and poetry. It featured in the section headed The Business. The other Ram song in the book was Heart Of The Country.

“Monkberry Moon Delight I liked, so much so that it’s in my poetry book.” Paul McCartney, Mojo magazine, July 2001

McCartney’s gruff delivery clearly found favour with Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, who recorded Monkberry Moon Delight for his 1979 album Screamin’ The Blues. McCartney used Hawkins’ version in his pre-concert tape before his 1993 concerts.

When my kids were young they used to call milk ‘monk’ for whatever reason that kids do – I think it’s magical the way that kids can develop better names for things than the real ones. In fact, as a joke, Linda and I still occasionally refer to an object by that child-language name. So, monk was always milk, and monkberry moon delight was a fantasy drink, rather like Love Potion No. 9, hence the line in the song, ‘sipping monkberry moon delight’. It was a fantasy milk shake.

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney in "Man On The Run", by Tom Doyle:

I tried to avoid any Beatles clichés and just went to different places. So the songs became a little more episodic or something. I took on that kind of idea a bit more than I would’ve with The Beatles. I suppose I was just letting myself be free. So if I wanted to do “Monkberry Moon Delight” with a “piano up my nose”, then I figured, that’ll be ok.

Man On The Run

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Lyrics

So I sat in the attic

A pillow up my nose

And the wind played a dreadful cantata (ta-ta ta-ta)

So was I bound to crack with my head in this hole

And the horrible sound of tomato (matoes, matoes).

Ketch up Ketch up Super doorsy

Don't get left behind

Ketch-up behind

Be left behind

Be left behind

When I rattled the brass I'd awoken

The sinews the nerves and the veins

My piano was boldly out-spoken

Had a chance to repeat its refrain

So I stood with a knot in my stomach

Then I gazed at that terrible sight

What do your stars conceal in a barrel

Sucking Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

The sinews,

The nerves and the veins.

My piano was boldly outspoken,

In attempts to repeat its refrain.

So I stood with a knot in my stomach,

And I gazed at that terrible sight

Of two youngsters concealed in a barrel,

Sucking monkberry moon delight.

Monkberry moon delight,

Monkberry moon delight.

Know no banana is older than the rest

In my hair is a tangled buretta (re-ta re-ta)

And I would leave my pyjamas to Phyllis Budapest

Don't get the gist of your letter (letter Ooh)

Ketch-up Ketch up

Cats and kittens

Don't get left behind (get left behind)

Behind get left behind

Be left behind

When I rattled the brass I'd awoken

The sinews the nerves and the veins

My piano was boldly out-spoken

Had a chance to repeat its refrain

So I stood with a knot in my stomach

Then I gazed at that terrible sight

What do your stars conceal in a barrel

Sucking Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Officially appears on

See all official recordings containing “Monkberry Moon Delight”

Bootlegs

See all bootlegs containing “Monkberry Moon Delight”

Live performances

“Monkberry Moon Delight” has been played in 1 soundchecks.

Going further

Paul McCartney: Music Is Ideas. The Stories Behind the Songs (Vol. 1) 1970-1989

With 25 albums of pop music, 5 of classical – a total of around 500 songs – released over the course of more than half a century, Paul McCartney's career, on his own and with Wings, boasts an incredible catalogue that's always striving to free itself from the shadow of The Beatles. The stories behind the songs, demos and studio recordings, unreleased tracks, recording dates, musicians, live performances and tours, covers, events: Music Is Ideas Volume 1 traces McCartney's post-Beatles output from 1970 to 1989 in the form of 346 song sheets, filled with details of the recordings and stories behind the sessions. Accompanied by photos, and drawing on interviews and contemporary reviews, this reference book draws the portrait of a musical craftsman who has elevated popular song to an art-form.

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Paul McCartney writing

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b00kface • 7 years ago

The mad howlings and ad-libing near the end sound like Hey Bulldog's conclusion.

Jack Cole • 3 years ago

You've got some odd lyrics there. As PM himself says in the quote you've printed just before the lyrics "So if I wanted to do “Monkberry Moon Delight” with a “piano up my nose”, then I figured, that’ll be ok.". Then you've printed lyrics where he has a pillow up his nose.

Also it's "two youngsters concealed in a barrel" who are sucking the Monkberry Moon Delight

The PaulMcCartney Project • 3 years ago

Hi Jack, thanks for noticing (and sorry for the late feedback). You're right, there are some inconsistencies, but the official lyrics at https://www.paulmccartney.com/albums/songs/monkberry-moon-delight indicate "A pillow up my nose". So the transcript of the interview in "Man On The Run" is wrong ? or McCartney didn't correctly remember those words? Or ...

Kees • 3 years ago

Also « Phyllis Budapest » is « Philly Budapest », where Philly probably is a reference to Philadelphia. Makes more sense than a person called Phyllis Budapest

Jan Verner • 1 year ago

Hi, this is wrong lyrics.

The right is:

So I sat in the attic, a piano up my nose

And the wind played a dreadful cantata

Sore was I from a crack of an enemy's hose

And the horrible sound of tomato

Ketchup, soup and puree

Don't get left behind

Ketchup, soup and puree

Don't get left behind

When a rattle of rats had awoken

The sinews, the nerves and the veins

My piano was boldly outspoken

In attempts to repeat this refrain

So I stood with a knot in my stomach

And I gazed at that terrible sight

Of two youngsters concealed in a barrel

Suckin' monkberry moon delight, ho!

Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Monkberry moon delight

Oh

Oh-oh, oh-oh

Well, I know my banana is older than the rest

And my hair is a tangled beretta (beretta, beretta)

And when I leave my pyjamas to Billy Budapest

And I don't get the gist of your letter

Catch up, cats and kittens

Don't get left behind

Catch up, cats and kittens

Don't get left behind

happyan • 1 year ago

Yeah according to booklets from Ram archive collection, the right lyrics should be what Jan Verner displays here.

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