ANYONE'S SONG ABOUT ABORTION
IN LOVING MEMORY OF TAYLOR HAWKINS
The Sylvia Sessions
The new album was recorded in 1993 and yet it contains lyrics that are just as potent today as the day they were recorded. The song MOMMY is a prime example. Recorded during the early years of ANYONE when the band consisted of Riz Story, Sean Murphy and Taylor Hawkins, the song is a prime example of the MAXIMUM ACID sound that the band had developed. The song is about abortion, and more specifically what can happen if the right to abortion is taken away, as it was today in the United States.
The song is told from the perspective of the unborn child. who reveals that the father is the young mothers dad. It is a back alley abortion being performed by 2 'boys'. The song refers to a 'hanger on the wire' revealing that the abortion is an illegal coat hanger abortion of old. The baby screams 'drown in your ocean, I'll be there beside you and no one will miss us at all', as it drowns in the internal bleeding of the mother.
In the end both the mother and child die, The song is a potent statement on the horrors of making abortion illegal, the actuality of these horrors being well documented by history. The relevance today of a lyric written and performed 30 years ago is uncanny.
INTERESTING FACT: The explosive heavy portion of the song, was suggested by Taylor Hawkins. The song was originally written to stay mellow and psychedelic, as in the verses. During the rehearsals when the band was learning the song Taylor suddenly screamed out, 'It should explode right here'. Riz liked the idea and composed the new 'heavy' section on the spot including the lyrics, "Drown in your ocean. I'll be there beside you. And no one will miss us at all."
