Songfacts®:

• Written by Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty and guitarist Jimmy Page, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor" is based on a children's nursery rhyme:
  
  Tinker, tailor
  soldier, sailor
  rich Man, poor man
  beggar man, thief
  
  The guy in the song is trying to figure out just what he want to do with his life, and is overwhelmed by his choices.
• Jimmy Page started experimenting with scraping a violin bow across his guitar strings during his time with the Yardbirds, notably on this track and another one on the same album "Glimpses." Later with Led Zeppelin, Page became renowned for the violin bow technique on such tracks as "Dazed And Confused." The legendary axeman spoke to Rolling Stone about what prompted him to start using it: "It was proposed to me when I was doing studio work. One of the session violinists was the father of David McCallum, the actor in the TV show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. String players would keep to themselves, but this guy was quite friendly. He said to me one day - we'd just finished a session - 'Have you ever tried bowing the guitar?' I said it wouldn't work. The strings aren't arched over the guitar, the way they are on a violin. He said, 'Have a go.' He gave me a bow. I tried it and realized there was something in it. I don't remember if I used it on any sessions, but I certainly used it the minute I was in the Yardbirds."
• Jimmy Page was not the first person to use a violin bow with a guitar. That honor is often credited to Eddie Phillips of the UK band Creation, one of the bands managed by Shel Talmy, who often used Page as a session musician.
• This was the B-side of the Yardbirds' US-only single release "Ha Ha Said the Clown," which peaked at #45.
• This was included on Little Games, the last Yardbirds album before their 1968 breakup. Jimmy Page, who had taken over for Jeff Beck, went on to form Led Zeppelin.
• This song, and the rest of the album, was produced by Mickie Most, whose other clients included Donovan, The Animals and Hot Chocolate.