"Mother and Child Reunion" is a song by Paul Simon on his album, Paul Simon (1972), his first solo album after Bridge Over Troubled Water. It was released as a single on February 5, 1972, reaching #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 charts, and was one of the earliest songs by a white musician to feature prominent elements of reggae.
The song was inspired by Simon's grief over the death of his family's dog, while he has said that the title has its origin in a chicken-and-egg dish called "Mother and Child Reunion" that Simon saw on a Chinese restaurant's menu. James Benninghof writes that Simon predicts the title event, the "mother and child reunion," while the second verse describes the effect of what happened on "the strange and mournful day," but without making clear what it was.
The song was recorded in Jamaica with singer Jimmy Cliff's backing group. Guitarist Huks ("Hux") Brown and bass guitarist Jackie Jackson were also long-time members of reggae legends Toots & the Maytals. Cissy Houston, mother of singer Whitney Houston, sang background vocals on this song.
Read more about Mother And Child Reunion: Personnel, In Media, Charts
Famous quotes containing the words mother and, mother and/or child:
“Having children can smooth the relationship, too. Mother and daughter are now equals. That is hard to imagine, even harder to accept, for among other things, it means realizing that your own mother felt this way, too—unsure of herself, weak in the knees, terrified about what in the world to do with you. It means accepting that she was tired, inept, sometimes stupid; that she, too, sat in the dark at 2:00 A.M. with a child shrieking across the hall and no clue to the child’s trouble.”
—Anna Quindlen (20th century)
“But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
—Bible: New Testament, Mark 10:6-9. . . .
“As a parent, you will often serve as an inadvertent example to your child. A child will model himself after you in many areas: how you deal with frustration, settle disagreements and cope with not being able to have the things that you want, to name just three.”
—Lawrence Balter (20th century)