Mother (John Lennon song): Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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==Conception==

The lyrics of "Mother" is actually a cry toaddress both hisof Lennon's parents, whoeach of whom abandoned him in his childhood. His father, [[Alfred Lennon|Alf]], left the family when John was an infant. His mother, [[Julia Lennon|Julia]], did not live with her son, although they had a good relationship; she was hit and killed in a car accident on 15 July 1958 by a drunk off-duty policeman named Eric Clague, when Lennon was 17. In one of his last concerts Lennon stated that the song was not just about his parents, but was rather "about 99% of the parents, alive or half dead".<ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{citation needed|date=DvFi0wvGrMw</ref>June 2018}}

"Mother" opens the album, starting with a [[funeral]] bell tolling slowly, four times. The song ends with Lennon initially singing the phrase ''"Mama don't go, daddy come home"'', but then screaming as the song fades out.

Lennon was inspired to write the song after undergoing [[primal therapy]] with Dr. [[Arthur Janov]], originally at their home at [[Tittenhurst Park]] and then at the Primal Institute, California, where they remained for four months. Lennon, who eventually derided Janov, initially described the therapy as "something more important to me than [[The Beatles]].".<ref>''{{cite book |title=Lennon: The Definitive Biography''; [[|author-link=Ray Coleman]]; |author-last=Coleman |author-first=Ray |year= 1984; [[|publisher=Pan Publishing]] |location= |page= |isbn= }}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2018}}

Although Lennon said that "Mother" was the song that "seemed to catch in my head", he had doubts about its commercial appeal and he considered issuing "[[Love (John Lennon song)|Love]]" as a single instead.<ref>''{{cite book|title=Lennon Remembers''; [[|author-link=Jann Wenner]]; |author-last=Wenner |author-first=Jann |year=1971; |publisher=[[Straight Arrow Press]] |location= |page= |isbn=}}</ref>{{page needed|date=June 2018}} "Love" was eventually released as a single in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/John-Lennon-Love-Give-Me-Some-Love/release/1217907 |title=John Lennon - Love (Vinyl) at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |accessdate=4 July 2012}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=June 2018}}

An early version of "Mother" performed on an [[electric guitar]] by Lennon can be heard on the ''[[John Lennon Anthology]]'' box set.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.beatlesbible.com/people/john-lennon/songs/mother/|title=Mother|last=|first=|date=2 August 2010|work=The Beatles Bible|access-date=20 July 2017|archive-url=|archive-date=|dead-url=|language=en-GB}}</ref>

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==Other versions==

[[Barbra Streisand]] recorded "Mother" (as well as Lennon's "Love") on her 1971 album ''[[Barbra Joan Streisand (album)|Barbra Joan Streisand]]'';<ref>{{cite web|author=William Ruhlmann |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/barbra-joan-streisand-mw0000192624 |title=Barbra Joan Streisand - Barbra Streisand &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |date= |accessdate=2016-10-03}}</ref> it was also released as a single. The song also featured on Lennon's live album ''[[Live in New York City (John Lennon album)|Live in New York City]]'', released by Yoko Ono after his death. Other songs born out of this period of therapy include "[[Working Class Hero]]" and "[[Isolation (John Lennon song)|Isolation]]". [[Shigesato Itoi]], creator of the ''[[EarthBound (series)|Mother]]'' video game series, stated in an interview that this song was in large part the inspiration for his naming of the series.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} [[Mia Martini]] recorded in 1972 this song in [[Italian language|Italian]], with the title literally translated as "Madre". [[Maynard Ferguson]] recorded the song on his 1972 album ''[[M.F. Horn Two]]''. South African artist [[Ratau Mike Makhalemele]] covered the song on an EP of Lennon covers in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|author=Brian Currin |url=http://www.rock.co.za/files/mike_mind_games.html |title=Mike Makhalemele - Mind Games |website=Rock.co.za |date= |accessdate=2016-10-03}}</ref> [[Shelby Lynne]] covered this song for her 2001 album ''[[Love, Shelby]]'', with the added resonance of her tragic family history. (Lynne's father, an abusive alcoholic, shot and killed her mother and then himself when Lynne was 17.) [[Christina Aguilera]] covered the song in 2007 for the benefit album ''[[Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur]]'', and Emmanuel Jal's version was available on that album as an [[iTunes]] exclusive bonus track. Eminem also used the beat for his "[[Headlights (Eminem song)|Headlights]]" song off ''[[the Marshall Mathers LP 2]]''.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}}

==Personnel==

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*[[Klaus Voormann]] – bass guitar

JohnLennon plays guitar rather than piano on the ''Nowhere Boy'' demo version.<ref name="filmycks.com"/>

==Additional notes==

*Nintendo's video game franchise, ''[[Mother (video game series)|Mother]]'', was named after John Lennon's song. All three of the video games in the series have various Beatles related samples and references strewn about them.

*"Mother" serves as the theme song for the FX series ''[[Better Things (TV series)|Better Things]]''.