Letter: Rehatched lyrics

You report that Professor Simon Frith ('What lies between classic lines', 22 January) suggests that Paul Simon's 'Mother and Child reunion' refers to an abortion.

Paul Simon told me (in 1968 or 1969) that 'Mother and Child Reunion' was the name of a dish he had eaten in Chinatown in San Francisco. The dish was a combination of chicken with egg; the reunion, presumably, happened when they were eaten and digested together.

Yours sincerely,

LESLEY BENNETT

Malmesbury, Wiltshire

22 January