| "Mother and Child Reunion" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Paul Simon | ||||
| from the album Paul Simon | ||||
| B-side | "Paranoia Blues" | |||
| Released | January 17, 1972 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1971 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:05 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Paul Simon | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Paul Simon singles chronology | ||||
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"Mother and Child Reunion" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his second studio album, Paul Simon (1972), released on Columbia Records. The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1972.
It was, at the time, one of the few songs by a non-Jamaican musician to use prominent elements of reggae. [3] Simon, who was a fan of reggae, listened to artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, and Byron Lee; he wanted to go to Kingston, Jamaica to record the song, as that was where Cliff had recorded his antiwar song "Vietnam" in 1970. [4]
The title originates from a chicken-and-egg dish called "Mother and Child Reunion" that Simon saw on a Chinese restaurant's menu. [5] The song's lyrics were inspired by a pet dog that was run over and killed. It was the first death Simon personally experienced, and he began to wonder how he would react if the same happened to his first wife, Peggy Harper. "Somehow there was a connection between this death and Peggy and it was like Heaven, I don't know what the connection was," Simon told Rolling Stone in 1972. [5]
The song was recorded at Dynamic Sounds Studios at Torrington Bridge in Kingston, Jamaica, with Jimmy Cliff's backing group. Guitarist Huks ("Hux") Brown and bass guitarist Jackie Jackson were also long-time members of Toots & the Maytals. Cissy Houston sang background vocals on the recording. The song was recorded before writing lyrics, which was unusual for Simon. He had previously hoped to make "Why Don't You Write Me" – a song recorded with Art Garfunkel on Bridge over Troubled Water – sound like a Jamaican song, but felt it ended up sounding like a "bad imitation." Simon was instructed by the musicians on the differences among reggae, ska, and bluebeat. He felt awkward at first because he was "the only white guy there and I was American." The piano and vocals were overdubbed later in New York. [5]
Record World said that the song is "quintessential Simon lyrically, but his sound is decidedly more 'teenage.'" [6] Cash Box said "Reggae sounds galore from Paul's debut as a solo. Quite different from S&G material, but most assuredly a future Top 10." [7]
"Mother and Child Reunion" was released as a single on February 5, 1972, reaching No. 1 in South Africa, No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 5 on the UK Singles Chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 57 song for 1972.
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Year-end charts
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Paul Simon is the second solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was released in January 1972, nearly two years after he split up with longtime musical partner Art Garfunkel. His first solo album was recorded in England in 1965 but remained unreleased in the U.S. until 1981, when it appeared in the 5-LP Collected Works boxed set. Originally released on Columbia Records, Paul Simon was then issued under the Warner Bros. label and is now back with Columbia through Sony. The album topped the charts in the United Kingdom, Japan and Norway and reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums. In 1986 it was certified platinum.
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) Paul Simon songs | |
|---|---|
| The Paul Simon Songbook | |
| Paul Simon | |
| There Goes Rhymin' Simon | |
| Paul Simon in Concert: Live Rhymin' | |
| Still Crazy After All These Years | |
| Greatest Hits, Etc. |
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| One-Trick Pony |
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| Hearts and Bones |
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| Graceland | |
| The Rhythm of the Saints | |
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| So Beautiful or So What |
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| Stranger to Stranger |
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| Featured singles | |
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