Mean Mr. Mustard

The track is a character song (Mean Mr. Mustard and his sister Pam), written about somebody in particular, and it deals in the motifs of found inspiration and social commentary. The lyric is a vignette rather than a narrative, something the Beatles had already used on 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' 4 years earlier. It uses anaphora. Interestingly, the title names somebody, and the writing draws on music hall.

Written in E major and taken at about 127 BPM, 'Mean Mr. Mustard' is a rock and music hall piece. It is strophic, the same tune each time with new words, as sixteen of the Beatles' songs are, such as 'Words of Love' and 'Matchbox'. Fun fact, its D7 → C♯7 → C7 → B7 chord sequence is one 'Sexy Sadie' plays too, there as A7 → A♭7 → G → F♯7. On a smaller note, 'Wild Honey Pie' plays F7 → E7 → E♭7 → D7 and this song plays D7 → C♯7 → C7 → B7: the same progression in different keys. The meter is 3/4, not the usual four.

The tape rolled at EMI Studio 3, recorded as a continuous performance with Sun King over 35 rhythm-track takes. The sister's name was changed from 'Shirley' to 'Pam' to set up Polythene Pam. Harrison brought the Fender Rosewood Telecaster, his guitar, 1969 being the year he used it most. It was made with distortion, one of sixteen Beatles records to use it, going back to 1965. That day put two songs on tape, the 209th and 210th of their career.

This track is Lennon’s, both the writing and the voice (a harmony vocal). It was cut by the standard four-piece, with Lennon on rhythm guitar, McCartney on bass, Harrison on lead guitar and Starr on drums, with maracas filling it out, a habit that peaked in 1965.

The song reached listeners on September 26, 1969, as one track among many on Abbey Road. This song was the 18th of the 26 records the Beatles released in that year, and the 194th in their whole run.