Mother (Pink Floyd song)
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"Mother" | |
---|---|
Song by Pink Floyd | |
from the album The Wall | |
Published | Pink Floyd Music Publishers Ltd |
Released | 30 November 1979 (UK) 8 December 1979 (US) |
Recorded | April–November 1979 |
Genre | |
Length | 5:32 |
Label | Harvest (UK) Columbia (US) |
Songwriter(s) | Roger Waters |
Producer(s) |
|
"Mother" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd.[1] It appeared on their 1979 album The Wall.[2]
Composition
"Mother" is 5:32 in length. The majority of the song is in
The song begins quietly with solo voice and a single acoustic guitar, and gradually expands its instrumentation to include, by song's end,
The chorus, sung by
Waters explained to Mojo magazine that the song is about "the idea that we can be controlled by our parents' views on things like sex. The single mother of boys, particularly, can make sex harder than it needs to be."[5] "Most of the songs I've written have always followed the lyrics," he noted. "I've often tailored the music to fit the words, especially something like 'Money' or 'Mother'."[6]
Plot
The Wall tells the story of Pink, an embittered and alienated rock star. As told through the song "Mother", part of Pink's sense of alienation comes from being raised by an overprotective single mother, who lost her husband, Pink's father, in World War II. The song narrates a conversation by Pink (voiced by Waters) and his mother (voiced by Gilmour). The listener learns of the overprotectiveness of Pink's mother, who is helping Pink build his wall to try to protect him from the outside world, evidenced by the line "Of course Momma's gonna help build the wall", spoken by Pink's mother. She insists that Pink stay by her side even after he grows up, and cannot stand it when Pink eventually grows older and falls in love.
Film version
For the film, the song was re-recorded completely with the exception of David Gilmour's guitar solo. One line of the lyrics, "Is it just a waste of time", became "Mother, am I really dying", as the original LP lyrics read. This change ties in with a brief subplot in the film where Pink contracts a fever after caring for a sick rat that died from it.
Personnel
- David Gilmour – vocals (chorus), high strung acoustic guitars, electric guitar
- Roger Waters – vocals (verse), acoustic guitar, bass guitar
with:
- harmonium, Hammond organ, piano
- Jeff Porcaro – drums
Personnel per Fitch and Mahon.[7]
Cover versions
On October 3, 2011, Pearl Jam performed "Mother" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, marking the end of the show's "Pink Floyd Week".[8]
The 1990 The Wall – Live in Berlin concert featured a version of the song with Sinéad O'Connor on vocals, with Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Garth Hudson of The Band on guitar, drums, and accordion, respectively, and Waters and The Hooters providing acoustic backup.[9]
In 2003, A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd, a
Natalie Maines covered "Mother" for her 2013 album, also titled Mother. According to critic Ann Powers, Maines' "interpretation of Roger Waters's lyrics helps the original becomes something new—something bigger".[11]
In the final episode of the FX cable TV series, Legion, "Mother" was sung by Dan Stevens (as David Haller) and Stephanie Corneliussen (as Gabrielle Xavier).[13]
References
- ISBN 0-7119-4301-X.
- ISBN 1-84195-551-5.
- ISBN 0-8256-1076-1])
- ^ Vintage Pink Floyd Interview Archived 13 April 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Classic Rock magazine.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Riley (May 17, 2020). "Roger Waters Covers Pink Floyd's 'Mother' In Isolation". Cosmic Magazine.
- ^ Blake, Mark (1992). "Still Waters". RCD. Vol. 1, no. 3. p. 57.
- ISBN 978-0977736607.
- ^ Breihan, Tom (October 3, 2011). "Watch Pearl Jam Cover Pink Floyd's 'Mother' On Fallon". Stereogum. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ Lewry, Fraser (July 31, 2023). ""I and everybody else were old farts in her opinion" - Roger Waters on the night Sinéad O'Connor sang her spellbinding version of Pink Floyd's Mother". Louder Sound. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
- ^ "A Fair Forgery of Pink Floyd". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
- ^ Powers, Ann. "Hearing A Mother's Song After Tragedy". NPR: The Record. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ "Amanda Palmer & Jherek Bischoff – Mother". The official website of Amanda Fucking Palmer. Yes it is - Amanda Palmer. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
- ^ Wigler, Josh (12 August 2019). "'Legion' Series Finale: Noah Hawley Explains the Time-Bending Ending". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
Further reading
- Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8.
External links
- "Mother (Live In Berlin)" on YouTube