What's That You're Doing? (song)

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Album This song officially appears on the Tug Of War Official album.

Stevie Wonder

Timeline This song has been officially released in 1982

Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1981 (Paul McCartney was 39 years old)

What's Going On

What's The New Mary Jane

Master release

Twin Freaks

By Twin Freaks

Related sessions

This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions

Recording "What's That You're Doing", "Tug Of War"

Mar 01, 1981

Overdubs for "What's That You're Doing?"

March 1981

Tug Of War sessions at AIR Studios, London

March 11, 1981 - March 1982

Mixing "Get It", "Wanderlust", "Ballroom Dancing", "What's That You're Doing"

Oct 01, 1981

Remixing "Tug Of War" album

March 2-30, 2015

Related interviews

You Gave Me The Answer (2015)

2015 • From paulmccartney.com

Tug Of War - Paul McCartney talks to Andy Mackay

Aug 01, 1982 • From Club Sandwich

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Song facts

“What’s That You’re Doing” is a song from 1982 album “Tug Of War” co-written with Stevie Wonder. From an interview with Club Sandwich, 1982:

Andy Mackay – “What’s That You’re Doing?” is a great track. Just the riff in the title obviously like that, linked together. I wondered whether the title came from the riff, or did you have the title…
Paul – It originally just started off with Stevie Wonder jamming – Stevie is an inveterate jammer, as they say – and he was on the Yamaha CS80 synthesiser and started playing.
Andy – It sounds like, you know, the way Jimmy Hendrix used to make his guitar say, “Thank you.” If you listen you can actually hear the riff saying, “What’s that you’re doing?”
Paul – He’s an incredible controller. He started off on the riff and he built most of the song up actually just from a jam.

‘What’s That You’re Doing?’ is me and Stevie collaborating. He’s doing the sort of funky riff, and I’m putting the song together. My memory of that is, because he’d only just come up with the lyrics, and he was still writing them as we were recording, he couldn’t remember all the words easily. He had his manager. Stephanie – who I think is still his manager, I run into her when I see Stevie, so she still looks after him – help out. She had a copy of the lyrics. This was a great idea: she would be in an adjoining booth and would prompt him in his headphones. With each line, she would say it through to him, just before he sang.
Paul McCartney, in Tug Of War Archive Collection, 2015

Last updated on July 11, 2020

Lyrics

What's that you're doing?
Girl I like what you do to me
What's that you're doing?
‘cos it makes no kind of sense to me

You can make me feel so proud
You can make me holler ow!
Girl you make me want to dance and sing
My mind is blown and you're the blame
I say it's sunnin' when there's rain
I jump by leaps and bounds, just call my name

What's that you're saying?
Girl I like the way you talk to me.
What's that you're saying?
Even if it's wrong girl I do agree

Girl you make me feel so small
Though I might stand six feet tall
What you've got cuts me right down to size
I'll be the last, you'll be the first
I'll do my best to quench your thirst
I'm the lucky one who keeps the prize

Girl I like what you're doing
Baby do it some more
Girl I like what you're doing
Baby do it some more
Girl I like what you
Do to me, do to me
Do it some more
Do it to me, do it to me
Do it some more

What's that you're doing?
Girl I like what you do to me.
What's that you're doing?
‘cos it makes no kind of sense to me

You can fill my appetite
Without me taking up a bite
Never knew that love could fill you up
You're much too good for me to pass
I'm for the taking, you just ask
We can make it stick with love and luck

Girl I like what you're doing
Baby do it some more
Girl I like what you're doing
Baby do it some more
Girl I like what you
Do to me, do to me
Do it some more
You know I like what you're doing
Girl I like what you're doing
Baby do it some more

What's that I'm feeling?
That sensation's such a mystery
I know that it's thrilling
And I hope this feeling last eternally

Girl you make me scream and shout
Tell me what it's all about
You make me give in without a fight
I don't have no words to say
You can fill it anyway
And everything you do will turn out alright

Girl I like what you're doing
Baby do it some more
Girl I like what you're doing
Baby do it some more
She loves you yeah yeah yeah,
She loves you yeah yeah yeah yeah