“Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

It took years to write, will you take a look?”

“It’s a dirty story of a dirty man,

And his clinging wife doesn’t understand”

In this vastly under-appreciated Lennon/McCartney song, the protagonist is a desperate man who yearns to control his own life.  He’s a British working-class slob with no future, and a miserable present with his clinging wife.  Of course, his clinging wife really does understand – they all do.  But it makes us feel better to pretend they don’t.

This man has an idea that, given the opportunity, he could make his life better by writing paperback novels.  In reality, what he really wants is to write the script to his own life.  He is tired of living the lines and speaking the dialogue written for him by the Tory government, the Church of England, and his prick of a boss.  In the next lines, the protagonist switches to his son, but the longing is the same.

“His son is working for the Daily Mail

It’s a steady job,

But he wants to be a paperback writer.”

His son works for a newspaper, and every day he writes about other people, people with interesting lives, people who do things, people who make the news, rather than just write about it. Back to the father in the next verse.  He’s very flexible, and that’s the whole point, isn’t?

“I could make it longer if you like the style,

I could change it ‘round.”

I could change it ‘round!!  If I don’t like the way my life is going, I could change the script!!  Isn’t that what we’d all like to do?  

A great song about a miserable man who just wants a little control.

“If you must return it you can send it here,

But I need a break.”

Don’t we all?