Author Simon Leng has written of George Harrison experiencing an "incredible phase of creativity" throughout 1969, following his time spent in Woodstock, New York with Bob Dylan and the Band in late 1968.

[2][3][4] The Beatles' Get Back sessions in January 1969 inspired the Harrison songs "I Me Mine" and "Wah-Wah",[5][6] both of which reflected the fractious situation within the band,[7][8] and his return to their fold after walking out of these filmed rehearsals allowed him to dictate terms for their immediate future.

"[16] An additional factor in Harrison's assuredness was his introduction to the Hare Krishna movement,[17] following a meeting with devotee Shyamasundar Das at Apple Corps headquarters in December 1968.

[21][22] From summer 1968 until the appointment of Allen Klein as business manager in March 1969,[23] McCartney was a regular presence at Apple's central London headquarters, calling staff meetings and urging financial restraint.

"[28] While McCartney sought to appoint his in-laws,[29] New York lawyers Lee and John Eastman, as the band's business advisors,[30] Lennon's outburst attracted the attention of the less conservative Klein.

[36] Harrison's relief from the tedium of business meetings through February and March 1969 was reflected in his composition "Here Comes the Sun",[37] which he wrote in Eric Clapton's garden while "sag[ging] off" from Apple.

[50] Another biographer, Joshua Greene, suggests that partly through his association with the Hare Krishna movement, Harrison was now "too sure of his life's higher purpose to waste any more time on petty squabbles".

[57][nb 5] In the song's two bridge sections, Leng notes the "psychological stress" implied by Harrison switching from a minor chord to its major voicing on the final word of lines such as "Though I'm beside you, I can't carry the blame for you".

"[57] The final verse urges an awareness of the consequences of chasing personal success, echoing what Greene views as the underlying message behind Harrison's temporary departure from the Beatles in January 1969 – that "[character], not career, should govern their behavior":[51] How high will you leap?

Only you arrive At your own made end ...Inglis writes that through Harrison's repetition of "It's you that decides" from earlier in the song, to serve here as his parting statement, "Run of the Mill" becomes "less of an accusation and more of a plea".

"[65] Along with "Wah-Wah", "Isn't It a Pity" and "Apple Scruffs", Leng cites "Run of the Mill" as contributing to its parent album's status in the Beatles' history – namely, that All Things Must Pass was "the first instalment of the inside story about being caught in that Kafkaesque chain of events".

[73] Late that month, Harrison visited Apple's new offices at 1700 Broadway, New York,[74] where he announced his intention to begin working with American producer Phil Spector on an album of his unused songs, some of which he had been stockpiling for up to four years.

[79] Once the full sessions were under way, from 26 May,[80] Harrison gave the song a musical arrangement that Leng has likened to the "minimalist tradition" of the Band's work in 1968–69, an influence that was apparent also in "All Things Must Pass", "Behind That Locked Door" and other tracks on the album.

[81] The musicians accompanying Harrison on the session for "Run of the Mill" were all former members of Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, with whom he had toured briefly in December 1969[82] – Jim Gordon (drums), Carl Radle (bass) and Bobby Whitlock (harmonium).

[45] Harrison vocalised the melody for this motif in his guide vocal on the basic track,[87] before two other former Delaney & Bonnie sidemen, Jim Price and Bobby Keys,[88] overdubbed the brass parts.

[97][nb 8] Against this backdrop, Doggett writes, "Run of the Mill" provided "the most compelling testimony to the recent past", on an album that offered listeners "a teasing glimpse into an intimate world that had previously been off limits to the public".

"[56] Speaking in February 2001 during promotion for the 30th anniversary reissue of All Things Must Pass, Harrison named "Run of the Mill" first among his three favourite tracks on the album,[105] followed by "Isn't It a Pity" and "Awaiting on You All".

[111] In his review of Harrison's 2014 Apple reissues, Paul Trynka of Classic Rock cites "Run of the Mill" as "the perfect example" of how All Things Must Pass still "sounds fresh despite its familiarity".

Trynka continues: "Like many of Harrison's songs, the opening and chords are sweet, reassuringly recognisable, but just as we settle down the melody skips away, aided by his trademark trick of a brief switch of time signature.