As a record collector, I went out and hunted down a lot of my favorites but obviously came nowhere near getting them all. These are some of the favorites that I didn’t own at the time.
Mother and Child Reunion is a 1972 single by Paul Simon from his second studio album. I’m not really a fan of reggae but this tune has reggae elements. 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. 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 wife, Peggy Harper. I bought the single more than 30 years later just to add to my collection. The song was recorded at Dynamic Sounds Studios at Torrington Bridge in Kingston, Jamaica, with Jimmy Cliff’s backing group.
Personnel
- Paul Simon – lead vocals
- Hux Brown – lead guitar
- Wallace Wilson – rhythm guitar
- Jackie Jackson – bass guitar
- Larry Knechtel – piano
- Neville Hinds – organ
- Winston Grennan – drums
- Denzil Laing – percussion
- Cissy Houston, Von Eva Sims, Renelle Stafford, Deirdre Tuck – backing vocals
“Mother and Child Reunion/Paranoia Blues” was released as a single on February 5, 1972, and reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. I did buy the 1977 “Greatest Hits, Etc.” LP (in the 1990s) and the “Negotiations and Love Songs” 1988 Compact Disc (sometime in the 2000s).
Lyrics
No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine
I can’t for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don’t work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again
No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine
I just can’t believe It’s so
Though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again
But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
When the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a moment away
