Songfacts®:

• Guitarist Chris Foreman, who wrote the music for this song, said in Uncut magazine March 2008: "(Co-producer) Clive Langer thought it was a great idea to get Judd Lander in to play the harmonica on 'Yesterday's Men' - he'd just been a big hit on 'Karma Chameleon.' Lander was all right, but not on my song. I fought and fought not to have him!"
• This was the first single to be released from Mad Not Mad, the band's only album not to feature founding member Mike Barson, who had left the group the year before. Frontman Suggs recalled to Uncut magazine January 2013: "The band was formed in Mike's bedroom, and it was obvious (after he left) that the magic was going to evaporate a smidge. We manfully ploughed on, but really we should have knocked it on the head. Just listen to the records and you can almost hear the split coming. Unfortunately, we were the last ones to hear it. 'Yesterday's Men' was a sort of epitaph, but we weren't conscious of that."