Matilda Mother
| Matilda Mother | |
|---|---|
| Pink Floyd | |
| publication | 5th August 1967 |
| length | 3:08 |
| Genre (s) | Avant-garde rock , psychedelic rock |
| Author (s) | Syd Barrett |
| Publisher (s) |
Columbia ( UK ) Tower Records ( US ) |
| album | The Piper at the Gates of Dawn |
Matilda Mother is a song by the British rock band Pink Floyd that appeared on the 1967 debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn . Misspelled, Mathilda Mother appeared on The Best of the Pink Floyd / Masters of Rock in 1970 .
The song was written by Syd Barrett , but sung mainly by Richard Wright and occasionally in a duet with Syd Barrett.
song lyrics
The text by Matilda Mother quotes a fairy tale in fragments, as it is read in stages by a mother to her son singing the song. Since she interrupts in the meantime, he asks her to read more of it (“Oh Mother, tell me more”). The text reflects a recurring theme in Barrett's work, namely his nostalgic memories of childhood; obscures this with the awareness that it cannot be regained. Barrett was faced with the question of the interpretation of wonder and dreams (“Wondering and Dreaming” / “the words had different meaning”) at this point in both the Apollonian and Dionysian sense. Apollonian and Dionysian are traditional polarities in philosophy (for example Nietzsche's ).
Barrett originally took the theme from verses in the Cautionary Tales for Children by Hilaire Belloc . In this book, naughty children, including Matilda, receive their well-deserved punishments. Barrett, however, was forced to rephrase the lyrics as soon as Belloc threatened to take action against him.
Musical conception
Matilda Mother begins with a rather unusual duet between bass and organ playing. Roger Waters repeats the B on the G string of the 16th fret of his electric bass and varies the lower note D to F sharp on the D string. In contrast to older pop songs of that time, hardly any chords are played. It is particularly unusual for Western music that Richard Wright plays his organ in the Phrygian mode , creating a hypnotic soundscape with an effect reminiscent of Arabic and Indian music . With songs like Careful with That Ax, Eugene or Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun , such experiments should be repeated a short time later. The title ends in Mixolydian mode , with wordless vocal harmonies of the two singers Wright and Barrett.
Alternative versions
A previously unreleased version of the song appeared in the 40th anniversary edition of The Piper at the Gates of Dawn . Text passages by the poet Belloc can also be found here in part. The compilation An Introduction to Syd Barrett from 2010 contains a different version .
Staffing
- Syd Barrett - electric guitar , lead vocals (choral singing and closing verse)
- Roger Waters - electric bass , backing vocals
- Richard Wright - Farfisa organ, lead vocals (the first two verses)
- Nick Mason - drums
Individual evidence
- ^ Martin C. Strong, The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.), Edinburgh: Canongate Books. Page 1177 (2004). ISBN 1-84195-551-5 .
- ↑ Discogs: Pink Floyd - Masters of Rock
- ↑ George A. Reisch, Pink Floyd and Philosophy: Careful With that Axiom, Eugene! , Chicago: Open Court, 2007, ISBN 978-0-8126-9636-3 , page 234.
- ^ Julian Palacios, Syd Barrett & Pink Floyd: Dark Globe , London: Plexus, 2010, ISBN 978-0-85965-431-9 , page 236
- ^ Rob Chapman, Distorted View - See Through Baby Blue , Syd Barrett: A Very Irregular Head, (Paperback), London: Faber. Page 149, (2010). ISBN 978-0-571-23855-2 .
- ↑ Edward Paule: Syd's Fractured Fairy Tales, The real story behind “Matilda Mother”
- ^ Andy Mabbett, The Complete Guide to the Music of Pink Floyd , London: Omnibus Press, (1995). ISBN 0-7119-4301-X .
- ↑ Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn Release for the 40th record anniversary
Web links
Matilda Mother et al in the light of Barrett's schizophrenia