(D)Joan was quiz zi cal, (B7)stud ied pat a phys i cal (Em)sci ence in the home.
(A7)Late nights all a lone with a test tube, (D)oh, oh, oh, oh.
(D)Max well Ed i son, (B7)ma jor ing in med i cine, (Em)calls her on the phone:
The (A7)“Can I take you out to the pic tures, (D)Joan?”
But (E7)as she’s get ting read y to go, a (A7)knock comes on the door.
(D)Bang!
Bang!
Max well’s sil ver ham mer came (E7)down up on her head.
(A7)Clang!
Clang!
Max well’s sil ver ham mer made (Em)sure that (A7)she was dead.
(D)Back in school a gain, (B7)Max well plays the fool a gain.
(Em)Teach er gets an noyed,
(A7)wish ing to a void an un pleas ant (D)scene.
oh, oh, oh.
(D)She tells Max to stay (B7)when the class has gone a way.
(Em)So he waits be hind,
The (A7)writ ing fif ty times “I must not be (D)so.”
But (E7)when she turns her back on the boy, he (A7)creeps up from be hind.
(D)Bang!
Bang!
Max well’s sil ver ham mer came (E7)down up on her head.
(A7)Clang!
Clang!
Max well’s sil ver ham mer made (Em)sure that (A7)she was dead.
(Em7)sure that she was dead.
Sil (F#7)ver (Bm)ham (D7)mer.
This page shows “Maxwell's Silver Hammer” by The Beatles in our color-coded kid songbook view — every note is colored by pitch (red C, orange D, yellow E, green F, blue G, purple A, pink B) and the lyrics sit directly under each note, so children can sing along while they play. The song is in the key of D at 136 BPM, a medium-difficulty arrangement — try slowing the tempo down using the BPM control.