Mean Mr. Mustard
“Keeps a ten-bob note up his nose”
A Lennon character sketch about a miserly old man, written in India in 1968 after a newspaper story. Forms the third segment of the Abbey Road side-two medley, sitting between Sun King and Polythene Pam.
advertisement
Did you know?more like this →
The Beatles have 14 songs built around an invented character rather than a feeling, including 'Doctor Robert', 'Eleanor Rigby', 'Mean Mr. Mustard' and 11 more.
Songwriter(s)LennonCredited as Lennon–McCartney
RecordedJuly 24 – July 29, 1969
ReleasedSeptember 26, 1969
Song familyMedley songFinal chord leads into Polythene Pam, Character song
● hover for more info● long-press tags for more info
Text169 tags
Word cloud
Lyric shape
[VERB] at[VERB] him[VERB] outhe's [WORD]only [VERB][ADJ] a [ADJ][NOUN] [VERB] to[NOUN] in the[VERB] him out[VERB] in the[VERB] out [NOUN][VERB] that he's[VERB] up to[WORD] [VERB] in[WORD] [VERB] out[WORD] [VERB] upa [WORD] [VERB]at the [NOUN]his [NOUN] [WORD]in a [NOUN]only [VERB] thatout to [VERB]to [VERB] [NOUN]to [VERB] at[NOUN] [VERB] to [VERB][NOUN] in the [NOUN][VERB] a [WORD] [VERB][VERB] at the [NOUN][VERB] in a [NOUN][VERB] in the [NOUN][VERB] up to [VERB][WORD] [VERB] in a[WORD] [VERB] in the[WORD] [WORD] [VERB] ina [NOUN] in theto [VERB] [WORD] [WORD][VERB] in a [NOUN] in[VERB] in the [NOUN] [VERB][WORD] [VERB] in the [NOUN]a [NOUN] in the [NOUN]the [NOUN] [VERB] to [VERB]
Cover-shared shape
[ADJ] a[NOUN] in[VERB] a[VERB] in[VERB] she's[VERB] that[VERB] to[VERB] up[WORD] beena [ADJ]a [NOUN]a [VERB]a [WORD]his [NOUN]out [NOUN]she [WORD]the [NOUN]to [VERB][ADJ] a [VERB][VERB] a [WORD][VERB] in a[VERB] to [VERB]a [ADJ] [ADJ]a [NOUN] ina [VERB] [ADJ]in the [NOUN]she [WORD] [VERB]the [NOUN] [VERB]to [VERB] [WORD]a [ADJ] [ADJ] [NOUN]
Distinctive word
go-gettermustardnoseobsceneshoutssleepsten-bob
Music108 tags
affiliate link – supports this wiki
People10 tags
Info17 tags
affiliate link – supports this wiki
Sources & references
Tags on this page are original analysis, transcribed and cross-checked against the fine work of others: Alan W. Pollack's “Notes on…” series, the Beatles Complete Scores (Hal Leonard), Mark Lewisohn's session histories, Ian MacDonald's Revolution in the Head, Dave Rybaczewski's Beatles Music History and Andy Babiuk's Beatles Gear for the instruments and studio equipment, and others besides – then verified by ear against the recordings. Full bibliography: Sources & thanks.
Updated
advertisement
Feedback
Got a tag idea for Mean Mr. Mustard? Or think we've got it all wrong – no, no, no? Don't let it be.