"My Mummy's Dead" is the closing song on the album ''
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' is the debut solo album by English musician John Lennon. Backed by the Plastic Ono Band, it was released by Apple Records on 11 December 1970 in tandem with the similarly titled album by his wife, Yoko Ono. At th ...
'' by
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
. The song was also released on a Mexican
EP that also contained "
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
", "
Isolation (John Lennon song), Isolation" and "
Look at Me".
Writing
It is one of the songs Lennon wrote concerning his mother, along with "
Julia
Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e.g. ...
" and "
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
".
The song is partially set to the tune of the English nursery rhyme "
Three Blind Mice
"Three Blind Mice" is an English-language nursery rhyme and musical round.I. Opie and P. Opie, ''The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 306. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number o ...
".
It is in the
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
of
C sharp major.
Unlike the
primal scream
Primal Scream are a Scottish rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie. The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simone Butler (bass), and Darrin Mooney (drums) ...
s on "Mother", the opening song on ''Plastic Ono Band'', "My Mummy's Dead" ends the album with John singing without emotion with a monotone delivery.
[ Author John Blaney suggests that Lennon's delivery "evokes a sense of Lennon's long-held emptiness".][ Music critic ]Johnny Rogan
John Rogan (14 February 1953 – 21 January 2021) was a British author of Irish descent best known for his books about music and popular culture. He wrote influential biographies of the Byrds, Neil Young, the Smiths, Van Morrison and Ray Davies. ...
finds that the song "captures the menace of childhood fears through adult remembrance in a most disturbing fashion".[ Rock journalist Paul Du Noyer claims that the "blankness of John's delivery" makes the song one of the scariest and most chilling of Lennon's songs, despite being one of the simplest.][ Lennon himself stated that the plain, short, childlike lyrics are due to him trying to write the song as a form of ]haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...
.[
]
Recording
Two takes of "My Mummy's Dead" were recorded in Bel Air, California
Bel Air (or Bel-Air) is a residential neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, in the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains. Founded in 1923, it is the home of the Hannah Carter Japanese Garden and the American Jewish Universit ...
, during the summer of 1970 as part of the demo tape
A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...
s Lennon made in preparation for ''Plastic Ono Band''. The first take was adapted for use on ''Plastic Ono Band''.[ Unlike the other ''Plastic Ono Band'' songs on the demos, "My Mummy's Dead" was not rerecorded for the album.][ The second take was not processed and appeared on ]bootleg album
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...
s such as ''The Dream Is Over''.[ The second take version was edited with the version released on ''Plastic Ono Band'' to produce a more complete version of the song, which aired on '' The Lost Lennon Tapes''.][ The second take would later be released in 2004 on the '' Acoustic'' album.
]
Reception
Authors Ben Urish and Ken Bielen describe "My Mummy's Dead" as "brief but powerful", stating that it produces a "memorable and chilling" effect and appropriately ends ''John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band'' by "capturing the essence of psychological pain and intimating at its persistence". Blaney finds the song to be "a concise expression of Lennon's primal
Primal may refer to:
Psychotherapy
* ''Primal'', the core concept in primal therapy, denotes the full reliving and cathartic release of an early traumatic experience
* Primal scene (in psychoanalysis), refers to the witnessing by a young child of ...
experience".[ Music critic ]Wilfrid Mellers
Wilfrid Howard Mellers (26 April 1914 – 17 May 2008) was an English music critic, musicologist and composer.
Early life
Born in Leamington, Warwickshire, Mellers was educated at the local Leamington College and later won a scholarship to Dow ...
describes it as a "sickening cross between nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
From t ...
...and TV commercial jingle
A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually t ...
" that takes us back to childhood in a "disabused and disillusioned" fashion.[
Mellers sees Lennon's later song " Oh Yoko!" from the '']Imagine
Imagine may refer to:
* Imagination
Music Albums
* ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008
* ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002
* ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012
* ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971
** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...
'' to be a "positive counterpart" to "My Mummy's Dead", being addressed to his wife Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野 洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.
Ono grew up i ...
rather than his mother.[ Mellers notes that both songs are in the same key and utilise the "Three Blind Mice" melody, which is also reminiscent of the melody of the ]Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...
' "All You Need Is Love
"All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was Britain's contribution t ...
".[
]
Personnel
* John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
– vocals, acoustic guitar
Cover versions
The song was covered by The Minus 5
The Minus 5 is an American pop rock band headed by musician Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows, often in partnership with R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck.
Band history
McCaughey formed the band in 1993 as a side project with Buck, Jon Auer and ...
on ''The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy
''The Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy'' is an album by American rock music, rock band The Minus 5. Their final release of new material for Hollywood Records, it was released in 1997. The album was met with positive reception from critics.
Recording ...
''.
References
{{Authority control
1970 songs
British folk songs
John Lennon songs
Songs written by John Lennon
Song recordings produced by John Lennon
Song recordings produced by Phil Spector
Song recordings produced by Yoko Ono
Songs about childhood
Commemoration songs
Plastic Ono Band songs
Songs about mothers