Charles Mingus’ Sigmund Freud-Inspired Song Dedicated to Mothers Everywhere (1961)

“All the Things You Could Be by Now If Sig­mund Freud’s Wife Was Your Moth­er” appeared on Charles Min­gus Presents Charles Min­gus (1961). And it begins with this cryp­tic, hard-to-deci­pher ded­i­ca­tion to moth­ers every­where:

And now, ladies and gen­tle­man, you have been such a won­der­ful audi­ence. We have a spe­cial treat in store for you. This is a com­po­si­tion ded­i­cat­ed to all moth­ers. And it’s titled “All The Things You Could Be By Now If Sig­mund Freud’s Wife Was Your Moth­er.” Which means if Sig­mund Freud’s wife was your moth­er, all the things you could be by now. Which means noth­ing, you got it? Thank you.

Or was that a cryp­tic, hard-to-deci­pher non-ded­i­ca­tion to moth­ers every­where? With Min­gus, you nev­er can tell.

Round­ing out Min­gus’ quar­tet is Ted Cur­son on trum­pet, Eric Dol­phy on alto sax­o­phone and bass clar­inet, and Dan­nie Rich­mond on drums.

h/t Peter Kauf­man

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Charles Min­gus’ Instruc­tions For Toi­let Train­ing Your Cat, Read by The Wire’s Reg E. Cathey

Charles Min­gus Explains in His Gram­my-Win­ning Essay “What is a Jazz Com­pos­er?”

Charles Min­gus and His Evic­tion From His New York City Loft, Cap­tured in Mov­ing 1968 Film

Clas­sic Charles Min­gus Per­for­mance on Bel­gian Tele­vi­sion, 1964