What this song was screaming from behind lines like 'It's a legal matter, baby, marrying's no fun/It's a legal matter, baby, you got me on the run' was, "I'm lonely, I'm hungry, the bed needs making.' I wanted a maid, I suppose." Marsh suggests that the protagonist really doesn't want to marry because "he's terrified of discovering who he really is (boring, middle-class and conventional.)" Several commentators noted an influence from the Rolling Stones on this song, particularly their song "The Last Time." For example, Segretto states "A Legal Matter" has "a nagging, droning riff that may share DNA with 'The Last Time.'" Mason states that the song "proves conclusively that Pete Townshend was working on a different plane than just about every other songwriter in London in 1965." The single release was backed by a song titled "Instant Party." When the band recorded this song under Talmy in January 1966, shortly before their dispute, the song was intended to be released as a single A-side. The band's original title for the song was actually "Circles." They re-recorded "Circles" (dubbed "Version 2") later that year for the Track Records EP "Ready Steady Who". The song was covered by Richard Thompson on his 2003 album "1000 Years Of Popular Music".