Written by Syd Barrett, the song is sung mostly by Richard Wright with Barrett joining in on choruses and singing the whole last verse.
The lyrics quote fragments of fairy tales as read from a book to the singer by his mother ("read the scribbly black", referring to writing in a book as a child sees it), and in the chorus he implores her to "tell me more". Some critics argue that "Matilda Mother" represents a common theme in Barrett's work: his nostalgia for childhood and awareness that it could not be regained
Barrett originally wrote the song around verses from Hilaire Belloc's Cautionary Tales, in which a series of naughty children, including Matilda, receive their (often gruesome) comeuppance. He was forced to rewrite and re-record the track when Belloc's estate unexpectedly denied permission to use these lyrics.
I feel like the Piper at the Gates of Dawn when I walk onto that wooden footbridge and it is still dark. I begin my journey towards the sun. The reason why I photograph the suns rising. Every day that the sun rises should be celebrated and I celebrate the fact that I am a Matilda Mother.. I am also a Montana Mother and a Jesse Mother but in this instance I am reminded of the talk of the planets in the beginning of the Album that the song Matilda Mother is featured on. What an awesome album released in 1967 and what an awesome dawn today was released in 2012.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_Mother#cite_note-2
Image by Mezza - Dawn over the rivers in Urunga 2012