John Lennon Insisted This Beatles Song Has Nothing to Do With Cocaine

One of The Beatles‘ songs feels like it’s about a drug that isn’t generally associated with the band: cocaine. John Lennon dismissed this interpretation. He also dismissed cocaine.

John Lennon said this Beatles song was inspired by a real guy

The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John was asked about the song “Mean Mr. Mustard” from Abbey Road. The tune revolves around a man who puts bills up his nose — which could be interpreted as a metaphor for cocaine.

“That’s me, writing a piece of garbage,” he said. “I’d read somewhere in the newspaper about this mean guy who hid five-pound notes, not up his nose but somewhere else. No, it had nothing to do with cocaine.”

Elsewhere in the interview, John was asked about his feelings about cocaine. “I had lots of it in my day, but I don’t like it,” he said. “It’s a dumb drug. Your whole concentration goes on getting the next fix. I find caffeine easier to deal with.”

John Lennon discussed societal attitudes toward drugs

John didn’t think that society had the right attitude toward drugs. “They’re so stupid about drugs!” he said. “They’re always arresting smugglers or kids with a few joints in their pocket. They never face the reality. 

“They’re not looking at the cause of the drug problem. Why is everybody taking drugs?” he added. “To escape from what? Is life so terrible? Do we live in such a terrible situation that we can’t do anything about it without reinforcement from alcohol or tobacco or sleeping pills?”

John then got off of his soapbox. “I’m not preaching about ’em,” he said. “I’m just saying a drug is a drug, you know. Why we take them is important, not who’s selling it to whom on the corner.”

The Beatles’ ‘Mean Mr. Mustard’ performed on the charts

“Mean Mr. Mustard” was never a single. It did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. That’s not surprising. After all, “Mean Mr. Mustard” is a minute-long joke song without a real hook. It doesn’t really work on its own. “Mean Mr. Mustard” is best listened to as part of the medley at the end of Abbey Road, alongside better pieces such as “You Never Give Me Your Money,” “The End,” and “Golden Slumbers.”

Abbey Road became the biggest studio of The Beatles’ career in the United States. It topped the Billboard 200 for 11 weeks and stayed on the chart for 490 weeks in total. That is such an incredible achievement. The Beatles made plenty of good music before Abbey Road — and a few good songs afterward — but they would have been legends even if they had released Abbey Road and nothing else. 

The Official Charts Company reports “Mean Mr. Mustard” didn’t chart in the United Kingdom either. There, Abbey Road was No. 1 for 17 of its 97 initial weeks on the chart. The album charted again in the 1980s, hitting No. 1 for another week and lasting on the chart for another 45 weeks.

“Mean Mr. Mustard” is a fun little ditty and it has nothing to do with a drug that John detested.