What did the Mama saw that was against the law? Homosexuality? Drug use?
I doubt that anybody really knows anything more than what Wikipedia tells us:
Were you looking for some kind of definitive answer or just collecting personal speculations on what the song might be about?
The latter, I suppose. Simon himself makes clear there is no definitive answer.
BTW, “You’re So Vain” is about Elton John, and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” is about Don MacLean.
I thought I posted about this here but it was elsewhere. Anyway, here’s my theory:
With a name switch, I think it’s a modern day Romeo (Rosie) and Juliet (Julio.)
Corona = Verona
The radical priest is Friar Laurence
Mama Pajama is Lady Capulet. She spits on the floor at the mention of the boy’s name. Classic blood feud…patooie.
The crime was the murder of Tybalt.
Juliet’s tomb was in the Convent of San Francesco al Corso, which, of course, was also a school.
Then if American Pie is about Elvis and “Blue Suede Shoes” is about Elton, whose drummer flew his Lear Jet to Nova Scotia, then BAM! It all fits, it’s the Cirrrrrcle of Liiiife…
On topic: I’m glad Paul Simon never had specifics in mind. I prefer Fun Doggerel to Deep Meanings…
I always thought “Me and Julio” would be a good title for a '70s ethnic sitcom, along with “Chinaman’s Chance.”
Carly Simon said the subject of You’re So Vain has an A, an E, and an R in his name. No R and no A in Elton John, unless she means his real name, Reginald Dwight. Simon says the song is about three different men, one of whom she has confirmed is Warren Beatty in the second verse. Beatty is so vain, however, he thinks the entire song is all about him. Simon has told only a few people, including Dick Ebersol, Howard Stern, and Taylor Swift, who the song is about.
I’m now deeply in love with you.
After giving the song a re-hearing, I’ve settled on what I believe to be the definitive answer:
Mama found out the singer and Julio were planning to burn their draft-cards, which they ultimately did during a sit in of their college’s administration building. The boys were ultimately arrested after a tip-off from the mother, with photo evidence provided by the father, who worked his way into the crowd. It was against the law, yes, but the family priest raised a stink over it, and when the press got wind it they took the story and ran with it. The story was ultimately picked up by the AP, circulated on the wire, and garnered national media attention. The result was widespread public outrage, particularly as both the Vietnam War and the draft were known to be coming to an end, and so the boys were ultimately released with charges dropped. Even so, Papa was a WWII veteran who had done his time guarding a supply depot in, I don’t know where exactly, Utah I think (the state, not the beach), and thought it was damn cowardly of the singer and his friend Julio to defy the government in an act of civil disobedience, and he never could forgive them. Cowards risk prison, heroes raise their right hand and volunteer to willingly sign up and do the bare minimum.
Love it or leave it, folks, love it or leave it.
Simon has revealed what the inspiration of “Mother and Child Reunion” is; it was the name of a chicken and egg dish he saw on the menu at a Chinese restaurant. He thought it was funny so he made up a song using it.
This demonstrates that maybe we shouldn’t ask Paul Simon what his songs are about.
Even an obvious one like “Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog after the War”? 
It’s about three minutes, maybe a bit less.
Simon constantly collected bits of lyric from random sources and his own thoughts, and often just inserted them into songs as they fit the rhyme and meter, but not necessarily any particular subject matter. “You Can Call Me Al” is a good example of that. As he was leaving a gathering someone came up to him, calling him ‘Al’ and said to give his best to his wife ‘Betty’ (Carrie Fisher). It became an inside joke for them and eventually made it into the song.
:eek: Okay, that right there is some rather grisly (but admittedly kinda funny) “sick humor” on the part of the menu writer even without bringing Paul Simon into it.
Maybe it’s just me, but I always thought “Me and Julio” were two boys/young men caught in homosexual love. I first though of that back when I was in school in the '70’s when homosexual love was, in fact, illegal in many jurisdictions and remembering parental reactions when such “deviance” was discovered.
Correction: He was married to Peggy Harper at the time.
Have you got a cite for that?
I’d really like to know!
Oops, you’re right and my memory is foggy.
The homosexual thing makes more sense, but for me it was always about the narrator’s having sex with the mama and the papa’s underage daughter.
I hope everyone has seen this take. Paul Simon gets upstaged while singing Me & Julio on Sesame Street.
