Mother (Pink Floyd song)
Encyclopedia
"Mother" is a song by Pink Floyd
. It appeared on The Wall
album in 1979
. The song is notable for its varied use of time signature
s.
, piano
, drums
, electric bass
, vocal harmony, and electric guitar
. At 5 minutes, 35 seconds in length, the song has a minimal introduction, consisting only of a sharp inhalation
and rapid exhalation
before the first verses are sung by Roger Waters
. David Gilmour
sings a chorus in a narrative response to the first set of lyrics, then an instrumental interlude follows. Waters sings another verse, which is once more followed by Gilmour's chorus (with different lyrics). Finally, the song concludes with a suddenly stripped-down arrangement and a ritardando in which Waters sings, "Mother did it need to be so high?", a reference to the metaphorical wall constructed by the character Pink.
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."
The melody of the chorus is used in some of the songs in Waters' solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
.
Following 9/11, this song was one of many (including another Pink Floyd song, "Run Like Hell
") to be included in the Clear Channel memorandum of songs with "questionable lyrics" which were generally not aired by Clear Channel radio stations.
, resulting in a child's nursery rhyme
-type sound. A photo of Pink and his wife is shown sitting on the bedside table as Pink tries vainly to reach someone on the phone. As Pink places the phone receiver back in its cradle, a quick flashback of Pink and his wife kissing is shown, suggesting that Pink was trying to call his wife. As the song begins, Pink hugs his pillow to himself, followed by a quick shot of an adolescent Pink resting his head on his mother's chest. As Pink wonders, "Will they try to break my balls?", young Pink is found sitting in his school's hallway, just outside an office. The following scene depicts young Pink, in the midst of studying, turning off his light, lighting a cigarette and watching, through a pair of binoculars
, a female neighbor undress. Just as Pink is enjoying his free strip-show, his mother opens the door to his room, forcing Pink to put out his joint and continue his studies. This moment is intercut with a scene featuring an adult Pink watching a football match on TV as his wife undresses, trying to entice him out of his trance. As she sits bare-chested in front of him, Pink maneuvers himself so that he can watch some football in peace. The adult Pink's sterility in contrast to the younger Pink's normal sexuality is evidence of how the bricks supplied by his mother have affected him in his adult life.
The following scene is accompanied by images of a sweaty Pink lying in bed with a doctor and his mother just outside his room discussing his illness, as this scene's original line "Is it just a waste of time" is replaced by the line "Mother, am I really dying?". With the light off, phantasmagorical shadows appear on Pink's ceiling, resembling the masks worn by the students in "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II". This sight scares Pink into sneaking into his mother's room and climbing into bed with her. This scene is followed by the adult Pink touching his sleeping wife's shoulder, only to have her roll over away from him, emphasizing his abysmal sex life. Young Pink once again runs to his mother's room, only to see the decaying corpse of his dead father lying in bed instead. When David Gilmour's guitar solo starts up, the scene flash-forwards to Pink's registry office
wedding, followed by Pink's wife trying to get his attention at his piano. Hurt by his distant behavior, the neglected wife eventually leaves the room as Pink continues to play random notes on his piano. She eventually finds solace and love in a nuclear disarmament
activist. After a scene featuring a reluctant, adolescent Pink in a ballroom dancing class, where he eventually gets a much taller girl to dance with him, the present-day Pink, unable to get a hold of his wife, sulks and adopts a fetal
position on his bed. As the song ends, Pink tries to contact his wife one last time, only to hear the male activist's voice on the other end. Pink, realizing what just happened, lets go of the phone and slides down against the wall.
with
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
. It appeared on The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...
album in 1979
1979 in music
See also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...
. The song is notable for its varied use of time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
s.
Composition
The song switches from a quiet dynamic to a louder one, expanding its instrumentation from acoustic guitar and solo voice to include (by the song's end) reed organReed organ
A reed organ, also called a parlor organ, pump organ, cabinet organ, cottage organ, is an organ that generates its sounds using free metal reeds...
, piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, electric bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocal harmony, and electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
. At 5 minutes, 35 seconds in length, the song has a minimal introduction, consisting only of a sharp inhalation
Inhalation
Inhalation is the movement of air from the external environment, through the air ways, and into the alveoli....
and rapid exhalation
Exhalation
Exhalation is the movement of air out of the bronchial tubes, through the airways, to the external environment during breathing....
before the first verses are sung by Roger Waters
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
. David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
sings a chorus in a narrative response to the first set of lyrics, then an instrumental interlude follows. Waters sings another verse, which is once more followed by Gilmour's chorus (with different lyrics). Finally, the song concludes with a suddenly stripped-down arrangement and a ritardando in which Waters sings, "Mother did it need to be so high?", a reference to the metaphorical wall constructed by the character Pink.
Waters explained to Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
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."
The melody of the chorus is used in some of the songs in Waters' solo album, The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking
The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking is a 1984 concept album and the first solo album by English musician Roger Waters. The album was certified gold in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America in April 1995.-Concept history:...
.
Following 9/11, this song was one of many (including another Pink Floyd song, "Run Like Hell
Run Like Hell
"Run Like Hell" is a song from the 1979 Pink Floyd album The Wall.-Overview:The song is written from the point of view of anti-hero Pink during a hallucination in which he becomes a fascist dictator and turns a concert audience into an angry mob...
") to be included in the Clear Channel memorandum of songs with "questionable lyrics" which were generally not aired by Clear Channel radio stations.
Plot
As with the other songs on The Wall, "Mother" tells a portion of the story of Pink, the album's protagonist. 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 protect him from the outside world, evidenced by the line "of course mother'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
Of all the songs on the album, Mother receives the most radical re-interpretation for the movie. The film version of the song replaces the acoustic guitar with a celestaCelesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
, resulting in a child's nursery rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
-type sound. A photo of Pink and his wife is shown sitting on the bedside table as Pink tries vainly to reach someone on the phone. As Pink places the phone receiver back in its cradle, a quick flashback of Pink and his wife kissing is shown, suggesting that Pink was trying to call his wife. As the song begins, Pink hugs his pillow to himself, followed by a quick shot of an adolescent Pink resting his head on his mother's chest. As Pink wonders, "Will they try to break my balls?", young Pink is found sitting in his school's hallway, just outside an office. The following scene depicts young Pink, in the midst of studying, turning off his light, lighting a cigarette and watching, through a pair of binoculars
Binoculars
Binoculars, field glasses or binocular telescopes are a pair of identical or mirror-symmetrical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects...
, a female neighbor undress. Just as Pink is enjoying his free strip-show, his mother opens the door to his room, forcing Pink to put out his joint and continue his studies. This moment is intercut with a scene featuring an adult Pink watching a football match on TV as his wife undresses, trying to entice him out of his trance. As she sits bare-chested in front of him, Pink maneuvers himself so that he can watch some football in peace. The adult Pink's sterility in contrast to the younger Pink's normal sexuality is evidence of how the bricks supplied by his mother have affected him in his adult life.
The following scene is accompanied by images of a sweaty Pink lying in bed with a doctor and his mother just outside his room discussing his illness, as this scene's original line "Is it just a waste of time" is replaced by the line "Mother, am I really dying?". With the light off, phantasmagorical shadows appear on Pink's ceiling, resembling the masks worn by the students in "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II". This sight scares Pink into sneaking into his mother's room and climbing into bed with her. This scene is followed by the adult Pink touching his sleeping wife's shoulder, only to have her roll over away from him, emphasizing his abysmal sex life. Young Pink once again runs to his mother's room, only to see the decaying corpse of his dead father lying in bed instead. When David Gilmour's guitar solo starts up, the scene flash-forwards to Pink's registry office
Register office
A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...
wedding, followed by Pink's wife trying to get his attention at his piano. Hurt by his distant behavior, the neglected wife eventually leaves the room as Pink continues to play random notes on his piano. She eventually finds solace and love in a nuclear disarmament
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is an anti-nuclear organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty...
activist. After a scene featuring a reluctant, adolescent Pink in a ballroom dancing class, where he eventually gets a much taller girl to dance with him, the present-day Pink, unable to get a hold of his wife, sulks and adopts a fetal
Fetus
A fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth.In humans, the fetal stage of prenatal development starts at the beginning of the 11th week in gestational age, which is the 9th week after fertilization.-Etymology and spelling variations:The...
position on his bed. As the song ends, Pink tries to contact his wife one last time, only to hear the male activist's voice on the other end. Pink, realizing what just happened, lets go of the phone and slides down against the wall.
Personnel
- David GilmourDavid GilmourDavid Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
— vocals (chorus), electric guitar, bass - Roger WatersRoger WatersGeorge Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...
— vocals (verse), acoustic guitar
with
- Bob EzrinBob EzrinRobert Alan "Bob" Ezrin is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, known for his work with artists including Alice Cooper, Kiss and Pink Floyd. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2004.-Biography:...
— organ, piano - Jeff PorcaroJeff PorcaroJeffrey Thomas "Jeff" Porcaro was an American session drummer and a founding member of the Grammy Award winning band Toto. Porcaro was one of the most recorded drummers in history, working on hundreds of albums and thousands of sessions...
— drums
Further reading
- Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8.