Compare to "Mother" by Pink Floyd on "The Wall". This is NOT the story of a sad, bereaved mother who lost her son in the war. This is the story of a very bitter and cynical mother who is perversely glad that she has control of a grown-up son who has been disabled in war and is now dependent on her again. She feels like a real mother now that her son depends on her and the girl next door, the whore as she sees it, has lost in him. She possesses him and can show off his medals and gun as her achievements rather than his. She sees his pain and incapacity as just desserts for the pain that he put her through in childbirth, and the pain that his father put her through for leaving her bereaved and alone in bringing him up. To me, this song is the nightmarish story of the "hero of the war", a young man with potential and a future, who has been crippled and infantalised by war, forced to rely on his overbearing mother who he knows will keep him prisoner for the rest of his miserable life.
This is a brilliantly menacing song given the cynicism of the lyrics against the lightness of the music. Scott Walker knows how to unsettle the listener ;)
Compare to "Mother" by Pink Floyd on "The Wall". This is NOT the story of a sad, bereaved mother who lost her son in the war. This is the story of a very bitter and cynical mother who is perversely glad that she has control of a grown-up son who has been disabled in war and is now dependent on her again. She feels like a real mother now that her son depends on her and the girl next door, the whore as she sees it, has lost in him. She possesses him and can show off his medals and gun as her achievements rather than his. She sees his pain and incapacity as just desserts for the pain that he put her through in childbirth, and the pain that his father put her through for leaving her bereaved and alone in bringing him up. To me, this song is the nightmarish story of the "hero of the war", a young man with potential and a future, who has been crippled and infantalised by war, forced to rely on his overbearing mother who he knows will keep him prisoner for the rest of his miserable life. This is a brilliantly menacing song given the cynicism of the lyrics against the lightness of the music. Scott Walker knows how to unsettle the listener ;)