| Mean Mr. Mustard | |
|---|---|
| The Beatles | |
| Genre | Rock |
| Written by | John Lennon |
| Released | 26 September 1969 |
| Album | Abbey Road |
| Recorded | 24, 25, 29 July 1969 |
| Length | 1:06 |
| Label | Apple Records |
| Producer | George Martin |
| Abbey Road guide | |
| Previous Sun King |
Next Polythene Pam |
| ' guide | |
Mean Mr. Mustard is a song written by John Lennon, (credited to Lennon/McCartney) and performed on the album, Abbey Road. The Abbey Road version was recorded with "Sun King" in one continuous piece.
Composition[]
Written in India, Lennon said that the song was inspired by a newspaper story about a miser who concealed his cash wherever he could in order to prevent people from forcing him to spend it. On reflection, he didn't think highly of the composition, describing it in Anthology as "a bit of crap I wrote in India."
A demo version of the song was recorded in May 1968 at Kinfauns, George Harrison's home in Esher, and appears on Anthology 3. In that version, Mustard's sister is named Shirley. Lennon changed it to Pam when he saw the opportunity to ease the segue into the song "Polythene Pam", which follows "Mean Mr. Mustard" on the album. According to Lennon, "In 'Mean Mr. Mustard', I said 'his sister Pam'—originally it was 'his sister Shirley' in the lyric. I changed it to Pam to make it sound like it had something to do with it." Additionally, the original version of the song was a quieter acoustic rendition and was over 4 minutes in length.
Lyrics[]
[Verse 1]
Mean Mr. Mustard sleeps in the park
Shaves in the dark trying to save paper
Sleeps in a hole in the road
Saving up to buy some clothes
Keeps a ten-bob note up his nose
[Chorus]
Such a mean old man
Such a mean old man
[Verse 2]
His sister Pam works in a shop
She never stops, she’s a go-getter
Takes him out to look at the queen
Only place that he’s ever been
Always shouts out something obscene
[Chorus]
Such a dirty old man
Dirty old man
Other versions[]
The version in the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band film was performed by Mean Mr. Mustard (played by Frankie Howerd) and his evil robot companions named the Computerettes. As with the performance of "She's Leaving Home" also in the film, the computerized singing of the Computerettes was performed by the Bee Gees.
Credits[]
- John Lennon - piano (1905 Steinway Vertegrand), rhythm guitar (1965 Epiphone 230TD Casino), lead vocals
- Paul McCartney - fuzz bass (1966 Fender Jazz Bass), harmony vocals
- George Harrison - lead guitar (1957 Gibson Les Paul Standard)
- Ringo Starr - drums (1968 Ludwig Hollywood Maple), tambourine
External links[]
- Chords of this Song at tabfan.com