- Album This song officially appears on the Tug Of War Official album.
- Timeline This song has been written (or started being written) in 1981 (Paul McCartney was 39 years old)
Related sessions
This song has been recorded during the following studio sessions
Overdubs for "What's That You're Doing?"
March 1981
Tug Of War sessions at AIR Studios, London
March 11, 1981 - March 1982
March 2-30, 2015
Related interviews
Tug Of War - Paul McCartney talks to Andy Mackay
Aug 01, 1982 • From Club Sandwich
2015 • From paulmccartney.com
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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
Officially appears on
Official album • Released in 1982
6:23 • Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals
- Stevie Wonder :
- Synthesizer, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals, Recording engineer
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant mixing engineer, Assistant recording engineer
- Andy Mackay :
- Lyricom
- Mike Stavrou :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Wonderlove :
- Backing vocals
- Session Recording:
- Mar 01, 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, Montserrat
- Session Overdubs:
- March 1981
- Studio :
- Strawberry Studios South, Dorkins, Surrey
- Session Overdubs:
- August 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London
- Session Mixing:
- Oct 01, 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Official album • Released in 1993
6:23 • Studio version • A1993 • 1993 remaster
- Paul McCartney :
- Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals
- Stevie Wonder :
- Synthesizer, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals, Recording engineer
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant mixing engineer, Assistant recording engineer
- Andy Mackay :
- Lyricom
- Mike Stavrou :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Wonderlove :
- Backing vocals
- Session Recording:
- Mar 01, 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, Montserrat
- Session Overdubs:
- March 1981
- Studio :
- Strawberry Studios South, Dorkins, Surrey
- Session Overdubs:
- August 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London
- Session Mixing:
- Oct 01, 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Official album • Released in 2005
Tug Of War - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2015
6:22 • Studio version • C • 2015 remix
- Paul McCartney :
- Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Remixing, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals
- Stevie Wonder :
- Synthesizer, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals, Recording engineer
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Andy Mackay :
- Lyricom
- Mike Stavrou :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Wonderlove :
- Backing vocals
- Alex Wharton :
- Mastering
- Steve Orchard :
- Remixing
- Session Recording:
- Mar 01, 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, Montserrat
- Session Overdubs:
- March 1981
- Studio :
- Strawberry Studios South, Dorkins, Surrey
- Session Overdubs:
- August 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London
- Session Mixing:
- March 2-30, 2015
- Studio :
- Hog Hill Studio, Rye, UK
Tug Of War - Archive Collection
Official album • Released in 2015
Studio version • A
- Paul McCartney :
- Arrangement, Backing vocals, Bass, Drums, Electric guitar, Vocals
- Linda McCartney :
- Backing vocals
- Stevie Wonder :
- Synthesizer, Vocals
- Eric Stewart :
- Backing vocals, Recording engineer
- George Martin :
- Arrangement, Producer
- Geoff Emerick :
- Mixing engineer, Recording engineer
- Jon Jacobs :
- Assistant mixing engineer, Assistant recording engineer
- Andy Mackay :
- Lyricom
- Mike Stavrou :
- Assistant recording engineer
- Wonderlove :
- Backing vocals
- Session Recording:
- Mar 01, 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, Montserrat
- Session Overdubs:
- March 1981
- Studio :
- Strawberry Studios South, Dorkins, Surrey
- Session Overdubs:
- August 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London
- Session Mixing:
- Oct 01, 1981
- Studio :
- AIR Studios, London, UK
Bootlegs
Let 'Em Out Vol. 1 - Wings At The Speed Of Sound Sessions And More
Unofficial album • Released in 2010
4:38 • Alternate take • Rough take, monitor mix
Unofficial album • Released in 2015
4:39 • Alternate take • Rough Take (Monitor Mix)
Unofficial album • Released in 2015
0:43 • Interview • Promotional interview 1982
Unofficial album • Released in 2015
2:15 • Alternate take • From Twin Freaks Production acetate 2005
Live performances
Paul McCartney has never played this song in concert.
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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