Mother (Pink Floyd song)

"Mother"
Song

Mother is a song by the British progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on The Wall album in 1979.

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 organ, piano, drums, electric bass, vocal harmony, and electric guitar. At five minutes, 35 seconds in length, the song has a minimal introduction, consisting only of sharp inhalation and rapid exhalation before the first verses are sung by Roger Waters. David Gilmour sings a chrorus in narrative response to the first set of lyrics and an instrumental interlude follows. Waters sings another verse, which is once more followed by Gilmour's chorus (with altered 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?" This line is often misheard as, "Mother, didn't mean to get so high," and as such is usually met by cheers when the song is preformed live.

Plot

As with the other songs on The Wall, Mother tells a portion of the story of Pink, the album's protagonist. Through a "dialogue" between Pink (Waters) and his internalized conception of his mother (Gilmour), we learn of the latter's overprotectiveness towards her son, caused by her husband's death. Pink himself appears suffocated by his mother's love. His mother even tells Pink that "of course Mother's gonna help build the wall," so at this point Pink is knowingly trapping himself into the wall that the album is about.

Inspiration

Much of The Wall is personal to Roger Waters' life; particularly the loss of his father in the World War II campaign in Anzio. Contrary to what one might assume from this song, Waters' relationship with his mother was far happier than that of "Pink" (the main character in The Wall) and the title character of this song.

Film Version

Oddly enough, although part of Pink's relationship with his mother is shown in this segment, it details more on Pink and his wife. At the end it shows Pink's wife in an affair with the leader of an anti-war group. Pink, now upset, has no words to offer.

Personnel

• David Gilmour - vocals (chorus), guitars, bass
• Roger Waters - vocals (verse), acoustic guitar
• Richard Wright - organ, piano, synthesizer
• Jeff Porcaro - drums

References

• Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8