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TL;DR:

  • One of John Lennon’s songs is similar to “Three Blind Mice.”
  • John said the song was similar to a haiku.
  • The track is about John’s fraught relationship with his mother, Julia Lennon.
The Beatles' John Lennon wearing a "People for Peace" patch
The Beatles’ John Lennon | Ron Howard/Redferns

Some of John Lennon‘s songs deal with the darker side of his life. For example, one of his tracks is about his feelings regarding his mother, Julia Lennon. John felt Julia did not love him. Notably, the song in question has the same melody as “Three Blind Mice.”

John Lennon felt his mother and his father did not want him

According to the book Lennon on Lennon: Interviews and Encounters, John discussed parents during a 1971 interview. “The thing we all seem to greatly fear is to show the want we have of love from other people, especially parents,” he opined.

“To feel it and acknowledge it in your mind: ‘No, they didn’t want me. That is a fact. I was not wanted. No wonder I feel s****,'” John continued. “‘Cause I couldn’t explain it as a child. You just know that something is not right, something is not there. And that is the big trauma, to experience that.

“And especially the middle-class people who have nice, imagey parents, smiling and all dolled up,” John added. “They’re the ones that have the biggest struggle to say, “Goodbye, Mommy, goodbye, Daddy. I never had you, and I must realize that I never had you and I never will.”

John Lennon compared his song ‘My Mummy’s Dead’ to a haiku

John explored his feelings about his mother, Julia Lennon, in the song “My Mummy’s Dead.” The track is very brief, lasting around a minute. The song uses the same melody as the famous nursery rhyme “Three Blind Mice.”

In the aforementioned interview, the “Imagine” singer discussed “My Mummy’s Dead.” “It was just a feeling,” he recalled. “It was almost like a haiku poem. Actually, I got into haiku in Japan just recently. I think it’s fantastic. God, it’s beautiful.”

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How the song and its parent album performed on the charts in the United States and the United Kingdom

“My Mummy’s Dead” was never a single so it did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. The song appeared on the album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 34 weeks.

The Official Charts Company reports “My Mummy’s Dead” was not a hit in the United Kingdom either. Meanwhile, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band was a big hit there. In the U.K., the album peaked at No. 8 and lasted on the chart for 11 weeks.

“My Mummy’s Dead” was not a single — but it remains a fascinating look into his feelings about his mother.

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