Well, decades ago, the late great conductor Leonard Bernstein was trying to figure out the meanings of some of the lyrics to the Beatles. He turned it into a documentary (don't know if it is available anymore). One of songs he examined was Paperback Writer. He claimed that Lennon and McCartney wrote it as a metaphor for prostitution, literally and figuratively. It was at a time when they were starting to get pressure from the labels to "be" a certain kind of band, yet at the same time the still could remember how thrilling it was at first to be so successful. This explanation sounds about right to me, looking at the lyrics.
Well, decades ago, the late great conductor Leonard Bernstein was trying to figure out the meanings of some of the lyrics to the Beatles. He turned it into a documentary (don't know if it is available anymore). One of songs he examined was Paperback Writer. He claimed that Lennon and McCartney wrote it as a metaphor for prostitution, literally and figuratively. It was at a time when they were starting to get pressure from the labels to "be" a certain kind of band, yet at the same time the still could remember how thrilling it was at first to be so successful. This explanation sounds about right to me, looking at the lyrics.