Eat at Home

{{Infobox song

| name = Eat at Home

| cover = Eat At Home (Paul and Linda McCartney single - cover art).jpg

| alt =

| border = yes

| type = single

| artist = Paul and Linda McCartney

| album = Ram

| B-side = Smile Away

| released = 1971 (Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, South America and Japan only)

| recorded = 16 October 1970 (basic track); 30 March 1971 (overdubs)

| studio = Columbia Studio (basic track); Sound Recorder Studio (overdubs)

| venue =

| genre = {{hlist|Pop|rock}}

| length = 3:18

| label = Apple

| writer = Paul and Linda McCartney

| producer = Paul and Linda McCartney

| chronology = Paul McCartney

| prev_title = The Back Seat of My Car

| prev_year = 1971

| next_title = Wonderful Christmastime

| next_year = 1979

| misc = {{Extra track listing

| album = Ram

| type = single

}}

"Eat at Home" is a 1971 single by Paul and Linda McCartney that also appeared on their album Ram from the same year. The song, a standard rock number, features McCartney on lead vocals, electric guitar and bass, and Linda McCartney performing backing vocals.{{sfn|McGee|2003|p=196}}

Lyrics and music

Paul McCartney described the lyrics of "Eat at Home" as "a plea for home cooking – it's obscene."{{cite book|title=Eight Arms to Hold You|author1=Madinger, C. |author2=Easter, M. |name-list-style=amp |page=159|year=2000|publisher=44.1 Productions|isbn=0-615-11724-4}} Beatle biographer John Blaney described it as fitting within the theme of many of McCartney's songs of the period, "extolling the virtues of domestic bliss and ... the love of a good woman."{{cite book|title=Lennon and McCartney: together alone: a critical discography of their solo work|author=Blaney, J.|page=47|year=2007|publisher=Jawbone Press|isbn=978-1-906002-02-2}} Music professor Vincent Benitez also considers the theme to be a celebration of Paul's domestic bliss with Linda in the wake of the Beatles' breakup.{{cite book|title=The Words and Music of Paul McCartney: The Solo Years|author=Benitez, V.P.|pages=32–33|year=2010|publisher=Praeger|isbn=978-0-313-34969-0}}

"Eat at Home" is in the key of A major. It is mostly a three-chord rock song, with predominant use of the tonic chord of A, the dominant chord of E and the subdominant chord of D. It also employs the leading-tone chord of G in turnaround sections between the verses and the bridge passages. Blaney described the music as being an "upbeat slice of retro-pop" that was influenced by McCartney's hero Buddy Holly.

File:Record Sheet 01.jpg

Reception

Music critic Stewart Mason of AllMusic described it as McCartney's homage to Buddy Holly,{{sfn|Mason|2009}} and Stephen Thomas Erlewine, also of Allmusic, described it as "a rollicking, winking sex song."{{sfn|Erlewine|2009}} In a contemporary review for Ram, Jon Landau of Rolling Stone described "Eat at Home" as one of two only good songs he enjoyed on the album, also comparing it to Buddy Holly.{{cite magazine|last1=Landau|first1=Jon|title=Ram|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/ram-19710708|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=30 July 2017|date=8 July 1971}} Goldmine contributor John Borack rated "Eat at Home" among his top 10 McCartney solo songs, praising its melody, its "slightly country-influence guitar pickin’" and Denny Seiwell's "pounding" drums.{{cite web|title=Listen to What the Man Said - My 10 Favorite Paul McCartney Solo Tracks and Why I Love 'Em|author=Borack, John|date=30 April 2012|access-date=2020-07-01|publisher=Goldmine|url=https://www.goldminemag.com/blogs/listen-to-what-the-man-said-my-10-favorite-paul-mccartney-solo-tracks-and-why-i-love-em}}

Although John Lennon was highly critical of many of the songs on Ram, feeling they were veiled attacks on him, he publicly admitted that he enjoyed this particular song quite a bit.{{cite web|last1=Fanelli|first1=Damian|title=Paul McCartney: 15 of His Best Under-the-Radar Solo Songs|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/10-underappreciated-paul-mccartney-songs|publisher=guitarworld.com|access-date=2018-12-27|date=17 June 2018}}

Although not released as a single in the UK or the US, "Eat at Home" was released as a single in several European countries, South America, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and reached No. 7 in the Netherlands and #6 in Norway.{{sfn|McGee|2003|p=196}}{{cite web|title=Eat at Home|url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Paul+%26+Linda+McCartney&titel=Eat+At+Home&cat=s|publisher=dutchcharts.nl|access-date=2011-10-13}} Even in the US it received considerable radio airplay without having been released as a single.

Cover versions

Little Joy often included a cover of the song in their setlist during the Little Joy tour.

Personnel

Paul McCartney – lead vocals, bass guitar, electric guitar
Linda McCartney – backing vocals
David Spinozza – electric guitar
Denny Seiwell – drums

Source: The Paul McCartney Project{{cite web |title=Eat at Home (song) |url=https://www.the-paulmccartney-project.com/song/eat-at-home/ |website=The Paul McCartney Project |access-date=14 February 2022 |language=en}}