There also seems to be a reference to reincarnation. While "Let It Be" is quite religious, our song only obliquely refers to religion, in the line: "In such a mysterious way." That phrasing sounds familiar because it borrows from the expression "The Lord moves in mysterious ways." While the Beatles profess a benevolent deity who "comes to me, speaking words of wisdom," Simon quotes a hymn, to cast a sideways glance at an inscrutable God whose intentions are unknowable. I've never been laid so low." So of course his advice is going to be different. Why the difference? In "Bridge," the message to the sufferer is, "I know you are weak, but I am strong, and you can depend on me for support." Here, the speaker is just as affected and miserable as the person he is trying to console: "I can't. Here, he says, "I've never been laid so low." On the immediate previous album, he uses the same word, "lay," but in the active voice, to indicate that he will do anything to provide comfort for his listener: "Like a bridge over troubled water/ I will lay me down." Simon then seems to allude to a song on his own. It's not much effort- "only a motion"- or much time- "only a moment." With one swift swipe of a knife, or the twitch of a finger on a trigger, or a short jump off a bridge, the reunion can be completed. Which is not that difficult of a trip, it seems: "the mother and child reunion is only a motion away." Remember the recipe for that dish? The two are reunited. Simon, or at least his speaker, disagrees: ".but it just don't work out that way." Mothers don't come back from Heaven. The song then alludes to the Beatles' song "Let It Be," released two years prior: "I know they say 'let it be.'" In that song, The Virgin Mary, referred to repeatedly as "mother," returns from Heaven to offer solace. But one does not truly compare on such occasions)? The conversation seems to be taking place at the funeral, or perhaps during the mourning after. The speaker begins by laying out the problem: "I can't for the life of me/ remember a sadder day." What could be sadder than the loss of one's mother (well, the loss of one's child, perhaps. by means of a practical solution to the despair at hand. The speaker addresses the listener, first saying they would not offer "false hope," which implies he or she does intend to propose a real sense of hope. Also, the listener seems to be at least a generation younger, given that form of address. The speaker refers to the listener as "Little darling of mine," so we must presume some familiarity between the two parties. (Interestingly, another Chinese restaurant meal is mentioned later on the album, in the song "Paranoia Blues.")Īs for the substance of the song, I need to thank my commenters for apprising me of the source for the impetus for this song Simon was moved, he said in interviews, to write about death (this time) due to the death of his dog. The title comes from a Chinese menu, the dish including both chicken and eggs- thus, the mother hen reuniting with her offspring in a rather sad way, for them at least. ![]() Part of the reason the message of the song went largely unnoticed is the ebullient music, lit up with African-reggae guitars, organs, drums, and descants. In the case of "Mother and Child Reunion," the issue is a bit more disguised than in those earlier tracks. ![]() It was his- at least- fourth song on the subject, the first three being "Save the Life of My Child," "A Most Peculiar Man," and "Richard Cory." Meanwhile, Paul Simon started his post-breakup solo career (or at least the first song on the first album) with a song on the same topic, with nary a murmur from the sensationalist media or distraught parents. In 1989, Lita Ford and Ozzy Osbourne caught a lot of flak for their duet "Close My Eyes Forever," which many claimed encouraged suicide, especially in impressionable teens.
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