Paul McCartney wrote " Six O'Clock " in response to a request from Ringo Starr , his former bandmate in the Beatles , for a contribution to his first pop solo album , titled '' Ringo '' . Having agreed to attend the Grammy Awards ceremony in Nashville on 3 March 1973 , Starr had begun compiling possible material for the album with Richard Perry , his producer , with a plan to record in Los Angeles during the same visit to the United States . Although Starr 's relationship with McCartney had been strained by the effects of the Beatles ' break-up in 1970 , and by McCartney 's subsequent lawsuit against his three former bandmates , Starr said in late 1972 that relations among the ex-Beatles were " a lot better now … we 're together as people if not as a band , and that 's more important really . " Once George Harrison and John Lennon had each agreed to contribute songs for '' Ringo '' , Starr was able to persuade McCartney by telling him : " You do n't want to be left out , do you ? " The song was credited to McCartney and his wife Linda . The composition is a pop piano ballad in a style that author Bruce Spizer views as typical of the contemporary music of the McCartneys ' new group , Wings , whose album '' Red Rose Speedway '' they had just completed . In a 2001 interview , Starr nevertheless cited " Six O'Clock " as an example of how his former bandmates always supplied him with material that suited his personality . The song 's lyrics address a friend or lover whom the singer confesses to not showing enough attention towards . The repeated refrain " I do n't treat you like I should " serves as an extended coda , anticipating a similar reprise in McCartney and Starr 's 1997 collaboration " Beautiful Night "
Grammy Awards ceremony
15th Annual Grammy Awards
Six O'Clock