@suzianne said
I always thought that pill was an amphetamine of some kind.
"gets her through her busy day" - valium wouldn't do that.
Valium is still prescribed for managing anxiety disorders. A person is controlled by anxieties which, with panic disorders, keeps them from performing their daily activities. The activities that have come to be dreaded, and are starting to drag one down, which are becoming unbearable and difficult to bear. Valium keeps them calm and focused on the tasks at hand, by slowing down their brains and subduing their thoughts on boring schedules. In the case of the song, the stay-at-home mom is made to calm down with the help of a tranquilizer.
If we take the lyrics as a whole, and not just take the 'busy' line out of context, we can see other clues referring to a tranquilizer. A few lines strongly point to a tranquilizer. And one particular line brings it home to roost.
"Kids are different today"
I hear every mother say
Mother NEEDS something today
To CALM HER DOWN
And though she's not really ill
There's a little yellow pill.
We read that: The most commonly cited drug associated with the "little yellow pill" in discussions about "Mother's Little Helper" is Valium (diazepam). This interpretation is supported by the song's mention of a yellow pill and the fact that Valium was known for its yellow tablets. It was widely available and prescribed during the time the song was released, making it a likely candidate for the "little yellow pill."
She goes running for the shelter
Of her mother's little helper
And it helps her on her way
Gets her through her busy day
It's the calming effect that helps her get on her way, and therefore allows her to go through the daily routine, which is assumed to be humdrum. She's a housewife doing boring house chores.
"Things are different today"
I hear every mother say
Cooking fresh food for her husband's just a drag
So she buys an instant cake
And she burns a frozen steak
...........................
Men just aren't the same today"
I hear every mother say
"They just don't appreciate that you get tired"
They're so hard to satisfy
You CAN TRANQUILIZE YOUR MIND
Valium is classified as a tranquilizer.
Life's just much too hard today"
I hear every mother say
The pursuit of happiness
Just SEEMS A BORE
And if you take more of those
You will get an overdose
The song is clearly a satirical commentary on the societal pressures and the misuse of drugs, particularly among middle-class housewives in the 1960s. Valium was one of them, and the one hinted in the song, I would think.