Let It Be

[Khandro]

When Paul McCartney sang,

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Who was 'Mother Mary', his mother, or the Virgin Mary ?

[Sam1960]

His mother apparently, but he said "you decide"

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Be_(song)#:~:text=McCartney%20said%20he%20had%20the,1956%2C%20when%20he%20was%20fourteen.

[jourdain2]

I've always understood it as his mother - with a fair bit of a mix of both.

[TheWinner]

hs mother, from a dream.  The Virgin Mary is not usually known as "Mother Mary", but "Our Lady".

[barry1010]

Only if you're a Catholic, TheWinner.  

[Mozz71]

Mary McCartney died when Paul was 14. It's a spiritual song, but not a religious one.

[Khandro]

I don't think any Northern working class lad ever then refered to his mother by her Christian name.

Interesting to ponder though; perhaps it was a coalescence of them both, I think he was brought up as a Catholic.

Lovely song that still resonates for me.

[1ozzy]

Then maybe you should "let it be"

[Old_Geezer]

I always assumed it was some nun in the singer's life. Never occurred to me it could suggest anything else.

[naomi24]

I always thought it referred to the Virgin Mary - but I didn't know his own mother's name was Mary so presumably that's who he's referring to.

[Peter Pedant]

 The Virgin Mary is not usually known as "Mother Mary", but "Our Lady".

Ay am sure the Blessed Virgin wd smile at the idea of one saint, one name - it depends spiritually how close you feel to her, girls much more than boys. Christophoros, Tocopheros to mention only two of the Greek names you have never heard of

( Never St.Mary)

[Peter Pedant]

Yeah I wondered if it were a nun, possibly one who clouted him when he got his multiplication tables wrong.....

[Hopkirk]

I think you lot need some Help.

Can't you Come Together on this?

[Khandro]

PP //Yeah I wondered if it were a nun, possibly one who clouted him when he got his multiplication tables wrong.....//

Is that what happened to you ? 😮

[Peter Pedant]

I was here:

https://www.francisfrith.com/uk/bridport/the-convent-in-bridport_memory-107301

I was able to enumerate most of the children in my class age8 and a few joined in with "oi that was me!" Gillian Russell ( blond pigtails) was in the class below me. 

(others when I described them aged 7 in the same class, have asked " how do yu know all this about me?" er hello I have just said... )

[Gromit]

McCarney did not attend a roman catholic school and his home household wasn't religious. So a nun is unlikely to be the subject.

I assumed it was the thought/remembering his mother who had died when he was young.

A later (if not the last) Beatles song before the band broke up.

[Clone]

@ 5:15

 

[Khandro]

I've long suspected you were a left-footer Peter. 🙂

[Old_Geezer]

In fairness one need not write from personal experience. One can write from one's imagination.

 

The phrase "Mother Mary" seems to imply this particulr mother among others, as she needed her name to identify exactly who. That alone would lead me to dismiss a liklihood of the writers biological mother being the reference (unless they had various step mothers along the way).

While I have very little experience of Roman Catholicism I don't recall that particular phrase commonly used for the mother of Jesus. That's why I concluded what I did.

[Old_Geezer]

But, yes, if she died when he was young and he had another mother figure (not something I'm aware of) then the biological mother explanation has wings.

[William51]

 No Hopkirk they cannot come together, they need Help.