The Story Behind "Mother" by John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band and Why It Was a Cathartic
Dr. Arthur Janov believed the repressed pain of childhood trauma led to neurosis and felt the resolution could be achieved by re-experiencing specific incidents and expressing the resulting pain through therapy. He called it primal therapy, and it was developed to elicit the repressed pain in a way traditional talking therapy does not. John Lennon, actor James Earl Jones, and pianist Roger Williams all advocated primal therapy. It was in 1970 that Janov published his first book The Primal Scream. In March of that year, he started treating both John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Let’s take a look at the story behind “Mother” by John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band.
Mother, you had me
But I never had you
I, I wanted you
You didn’t want me
So, I
I just got to tell you
Goodbye
Goodbye
Julia
Lennon’s father Alf was a merchant seaman who was away from home the majority of the time. When Lennon was 5 years old, his father returned and planned to take the youngster to New Zealand. Lennon’s mother Julia objected and convinced her estranged husband to leave the boy. She gave custody to her sister Mimi, who lived close by. Lennon couldn’t help but feel abandoned even though he reconnected with his mother in his teenage years. She bought him his first guitar and showed him banjo chords, encouraging his love of rock ‘n’ roll and rhythm & blues. On July 15, 1958, Julia Lennon was killed when she was hit by a car after leaving her sister’s house.
Father, you left me
But I never left you
I needed you
You didn’t need me
So, I
I just got to tell you, mm
Goodbye
Goodbye
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Source: Jay McDowell/americansongwriter.com
