"Monkberry Moon Delight" is a song written by English musician

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

and his wife Linda, from their 1971 album '' Ram''.

Composition and Arrangement

"Monkberry Moon Delight" is in the key of C minor. McCartney's vocals are accompanied by a chord progression consisting of Cm, Gm7, and G7 chords (i–v7–V7). In the chorus, which features Linda in a more active role on vocals, her and McCartney's singing is supported by Cm and Fm chords. This leads to an A♭7–G7–Cm harmonic succession, with the A♭7 functioning as an augmented sixth chord (Ger+⁶). McCartney's gruff, distinctive vocalization was influenced by

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...

, who later covered the song.

Lyrics

McCartney said of the song's title, which also appears in the song's lyrics:

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.

Reception

Upon ''Ram''s release, Anthony Boot of ''

The Kingston Whig-Standard ''The Kingston Whig-Standard'' is a newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. It is published five days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday. It publishes a mix of community, national and international news and is currently owned by Postmedia. It has ...

'' referred to "Monkberry Moon Delight" as "a bit of a waste" on what he considered to otherwise be "an excellent album." In 2020, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked "Monkberry Moon Delight" #22 on their ranking of the 40 greatest McCartney songs from his solo career; the list's compilers refer to the song as one of McCartney's "genius obscurities". ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Dave Swanson rated "Monkberry Moon Delight" as McCartney's most underrated song, saying that it "features one of his rawest vocals tracks ever" and also praising the "stomping rhythm and whimsical backup vocals."

Personnel

– lead vocals, bass, piano *

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

– backing vocals * David Spinozza or Hugh McCracken – guitar *

Denny Seiwell Denny Seiwell (born July 10, 1943) is an American drummer and a founding member of Wings. He also drummed for Billy Joel and Liza Minnelli and played in the scores for the films ''Waterworld'', '' Grease II'', and ''Vertical Limit''. His drum ...

– drums *

Heather McCartney Heather Louise McCartney (born Heather Louise See; December 31, 1962) is an American-British potter and artist who is the daughter of Linda McCartney and adopted daughter of Sir Paul McCartney. Biography McCartney was born in Tucson, Arizona, ...

– backing vocals

Cover versions

In 1972, Bahamian musician

Exuma Exuma is a district of The Bahamas, consisting of over 365 islands, also called cays. The largest of the cays is Great Exuma, which is 37 mi (60 km) in length and joined to another island, Little Exuma, by a small bridge. The capital ...

recorded a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of "Monkberry Moon Delight", which was included on his album ''

Reincarnation Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the philosophical or religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new life in a different physical form or body after biological death. Resurrection is a ...

''. The following year,

recorded a cover of the song and released it as a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

References

{{Paul McCartney 1971 songs Songs written by Paul McCartney Songs written by Linda McCartney Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Paul McCartney songs Music published by MPL Music Publishing