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In The Beatles' song Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, the last two verses are essentially the same except Desmond and Molly Jones switch actions. I've included a line by line comparison below with the differences emphasized.

Line by line comparison

Happy ever after in the market place
Happy ever after in the market place

Desmond lets the children lend a hand
Molly lets the children lend a hand

Molly stays at home and does her pretty face
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face

And in the evening she's a singer with the band
And in the evening she's a singer with the band

What is the reason for this switch? Was it a flub by Paul?

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Was it a flub by Paul?

Yes, Wikipedia cites the book "A Hard Day's Write" (Steve Turner) as claiming that this was initially a mistake by Paul, that was kept only because the other Beatles liked it.

But I have my doubts about that. Maybe Paul was an activist for emancipation and equal rights.

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    I've always thought the band were messing around with the song (the recording has quite a party vibe) and thought it would be fun to turn things round at the end, but who knows? Just my opinion...
    – Angst
    Commented Feb 19, 2019 at 22:43
  • lala how the life goes on ... ;)
    – Albrecht Hügli
    Commented Feb 20, 2019 at 8:06
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    I have the cited book, can confirm that Wikipedia conveyed it accurately. The Beatles were characteristically playful in the studio, and often incorporated "happy accidents." In this case, I think it improves the song, otherwise it's both repetitive and sexist. // In an interesting side note, the same source mentions that the song's odd chorus was stolen from a Nigerian friend of Paul's, Jimmy Scott -- Paul later "paid" for the theft by paying off Scott's legal debts on an unrelated case.
    – Chris Sunami
    Commented Jan 16 at 14:57
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There's footage of them recording and Paul realizes he mixed the lyrics up. The others suggest keeping it that way, and there it is. No such thing as a mistake when it comes to creating art. Unless you feel Picasso just kept screwing up his portraits.

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