I did the math, and it doesn't QUITE add up, but I don't know all the details of his mother's condition or when he wrote each song, but

Jimmy is basically about Maynard trying to connect to his younger self- whether its his 11 year old self or himself 11 years ago- and reconcile something that happened then and changed him. 1 and 1 are 1, 11. His young self and his present self can unite, either after 11 years, or from his 11 year old self. Right? Wrong?

Wings for Marie is basically letting his mother go, coming to reconciliation with her death as finally setting her free from her condition and bringing her soul to heaven. 10,000 days beign 27 years, how long she was paralyzed. Right? Wrong?

So it makes sense that what happened when he was 11 was that she was affected with her condition and he hadn't been able to cope with it I guess until he wrote Wings For Marie/10,000 days. Right? Wrong?

Anyway the math I did was that 11+27=38, and I'm pretty sure he was 42 when 10,000 days came out. The song could have been 4 years in the making right? Or maybe his mother's illness began when he was 11 but she didn't become fully paralyzed until years later.

I don't think this is news to anyone, I just want to make sure I've got it straight.


edit: what exactly was the illness?

Yeah that's more or less the idea.

DAMN that was fast

i type fast.

The way I understand it his mom had stroke when he was 11 and left her paralyzed. Jimmy is about him dealing with her stroke. This is all specualtion. Feel free to correct anyo fwhat I just typed.

Yep. Maynard was 11 when she had her aneurysm.

The lyrics to Judith tie more of the story together, as well.

Yeah thats pretty much right. So just how many songs are related to his mother?
Wings 1 and 2
Jimmy
Judith
??

Judith, IMO, is more about his frustrations with her faith (and its dogma), despite what she's been dealt. It's to personal to be about his anger toward the church.

There are more songs that sort of tie to all of this, but I'm not hear to leave crumb trails.

Thats good cos i don't follow crumb trails. I only follow wine gums lol

You're right, it is more personal than just anger at the church.
If he wanted anger at the church he would have drowned that in AEnima, instead L.A.

I completely agree. I don't think that Judith was written about anger towards an institution. I think that Judith is Maynard venting his frustration that is a result of his inability to understand his mother's devotion to a religion that has never helped her. He is almost chastising her and throwing it in her face that she was a good Christian and that God rewarded her with paralysis. He is almost trying to talk her out of her faith.

That is what makes "Wings for Marie" and "10,000 Days" so poignant. I think that he has accepted her faith, and while he doesn't necessarily understand or share it, he admired it. I think that a lot of these songs about his mother's death are him dealing with the fact that he thought he had so many things figured out and yet his mother's faith was the one thing he could never explain. I think he has taken something from her death. A lesson of sorts perhaps.

"The song itself is called Judith, which is my mother's name, and she was paralyzed very early on, from an aneyurism. and it just strengthened her faith, which is fine, because she didn't really have anything else but her faith. But the people around her, marching in like ghouls to tell her how strong in her faith she is, and then going home and talking about her behind her back it was just amazing, the hipocracy that went on. Initially in the song, I say 'Fuck your God' but I'm not saying fuck the actual God, I'm just saying fuck YOUR God, a God that would isolate people, and punish. Genesis 1:1, 'In the beginning was the word and the word was God' In the original arameic text that word was Yaweh or Jahovah, which means light, and love. We've twisted it to mean this guy with a beard, passing judgement but it's not, In the beginning was the word, and the word was love, and light. Infinite, unconditional, and without judgement. at that point you can pretty much close the book, you know? Very crazy to me, everything that's going on in the world, in the name of a religion. Fundamentalist extremists, just messing stuff up when they could all get together and realize.. in the beginning was the word, and the word was love.. seems like a pretty simple concept, but people just cant quite seem to grasp it. And it's funny how they say the devil mixes lies with the truth, well, go check out Constantine back in 320 A.D. and realize that yeah he mixed the lies with the truth, and tricked you into believing there was a guy with a beard, passing judgement. and he took love out of the whole equation.."

---MJK, taken from the commentary track on the APC DVD.