Sunday Song Lyric - Mother's Day Edition:
Happy Mother's Day! Let's celebrate with a lyric or song. What are your favorite songs or lyrics for, about, or otherwise related to mothers and motherhood? Celebratory songs are certainly nice -- and perhaps preferred -- but not required.
Just kidding.
Mother mother how's the family,
I'm just calling to say hello
How's the weather how's my father
am I lonely heavens no
Mother mother are you listening,
Just a phone call to ease your mind
Life is perfect never better, distance making the heart grow blind
When you sent me off to see the world,
where you cared that I might get hurt
Would I try a little tobacco,
would I keep on hiking up my skirt
I'm hungry I'm dirty
I'm losing my mind
Everything's fine
I'm freezing I'm starving
I'm bleeding to death
Everything's fine Yeah,
I'm working, making money
I'm just starting to build a name
I can feel it around the corner,
I could make it any day
Mother mother can you hear me,
sure I'm sober sure I'm sane
Life is perfect never better, still your daughter
still the same
If I tell you what you want to hear, will it help you
to sleep well at night
Are you sure that I'm your perfect dear,
now just cuddle up and sleep tight
I'm hungry I'm dirty
I'm losing my mind
Everything's fine
I'm freezing I'm starving
I'm bleeding to death
Everything's fine
I miss you I love you
No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.
I can't for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don't work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again
No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.
I just can t believe it's so
Though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again
But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
When the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a moment away
Hello mother, hello father, here I am at Camp Grenada.
Camp is very entertaining,
and they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining...
I went hiking with Joe Spivy.
He developed poison ivy.
You remember Leonard Skinner;
He got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner.
All the counselors
Hate the waiters,
And the lake has alligators.
And the head coach
Was no sissy,
So he reads to us from something called Ulysses.
Now I don't want
This to scare ya.
But my bunkmate
Has malaria.
You remember Jeffrey Hardy...
They're about to organize a searching party.
Take me home, oh mother, father.
Take me home, I hate Grenada.
Don't leave me out in the forest where
I might get eaten by a bear.
Take me home, I promise I will not make noise
Or mess the house with other boys.
Oh please don't make me stay!
I've been here ONE -- WHOLE -- DAY.
Dearest father,
Darling mother,
How's my precious little brother?
Let me come home if you miss me.
I would even let Aunt Bertha hug and kiss me...
Wait a minute...
It stopped raining!
Guys are biking.
Guys are sailing,
playing baseball... gee, that's better!
Mother, father, kindly disregard this letter!
you had me,
but i never had you."
That would be Alan Sherman, from his 1963 album, "My Son, the Nut." (I have the original album somewhere -- it seemed pretty hilarious at the time.) It's actually, "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh"
Mama Tried
The first thing I remember knowing,
Was a lonesome whistle blowing,
And a young un's dream of growing up to ride;
On a freight train leaving town,
Not knowing where I'm bound,
No-one could change my mind but Mama tried.
One and only rebel child,
From a family, meek and mild:
My Mama seemed to know what lay in store.
Despite all my Sunday learning,
Towards the bad, I kept on turning.
'Til Mama couldn't hold me anymore.
And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.
No-one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried.
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied.
That leaves only me to blame 'cos Mama tried.
Instrumental break.
Dear old Daddy, rest his soul,
Left my Mom a heavy load;
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes.
Working hours without rest,
Wanted me to have the best.
She tried to raise me right but I refused.
And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole.
No-one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried.
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied.
That leaves only me to blame 'cos Mama tried.
MOTHER, THE QUEEN OF MY HEART
1933, by Hoyt Bryant and Jimmie Rodgers
Recorded by Jimmie Rodgers
I had a home out in Texas,
down where the blue bonnets grew
I had the kindest old mother;
how happy we were just we two
Till one day the angels called her,
the debt we all have to pay
She called me close to her bedside,
these last few words to say.
"Son, don't start drinking and gambling,
promise you'll always go straight."
Ten years have passed since that parting,
that promise I've broke, I must say
I started in gambling for pastime,
at last I was just like them all
I bet my clothes and my money,
not dreaming that I'd ever fall.
One night I bet all my money,
nothing was left to be seen
All that I needed to break them was one card,
and that was a queen
The cards were dealt all 'round the table,
each man took a card on the draw
I drew the one that would beat them;
I turned it and here's what I saw.
I saw my mother's picture,
and somehow she seemed to say
"Son, you have broken your promise,"
so I tossed the cards away
My winnings I gave to a newsboy,
I knew I was wrong from the start
And I'll ne'er forget that promise,
to Mother, the queen of my heart.
by Walker Jerry Jeff
album:
He was born in Oklahoma,
His wife's name's Betty Lou Thelma Liz
And he's not responsible for what he's doing
Cause his mother made him what he is.
And it's up against the wall Redneck Mother,
Mother, who has raised her son so well.
He's thirty-four and drinking in a honky tonk.
Just kicking hippies asses and raising hell.
Sure does like his Falstaff beer,
Likes to chase it down with that Wild Turkey liquor;
Drives a fifty-seven GMC pickup truck;
He's got a gun rack; "Goat ropers need love, too" sticker
And it's up against the wall Redneck Mother,
Mother, who has raised her son so well.
He's thirty-four and drinking in a honky tonk.
Just kicking hippies asses and raising hell.
Well,
M is for the mudflaps you give me for my pickup truck
O is for the Oil I put on my hair
T is for T-bird
H is for Haggard
E is for eggs, and
R is for REDNECK.
Up against the wall Redneck Mother,
Mother, who has raised her son so well.
He's thirty-four and drinking in a honky tonk.
Kicking hippies asses and raising hell.
He's up against the wall Redneck Mother,
Mother, who has raised her son so well.
He's thirty-four and drinking in a honky tonk.
Just kicking hippies asses and raising hell.
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet.
Who finds the money? when you pay the rent?
Did you think that money was heaven sent?
Friday night arrives without a suitcase.
Sunday morning creep in like a nun.
Mondays child has learned to tie his bootlace.
See how they run.
Lady madonna, baby at your breast.
Wonder how you manage to feed the rest.
See how they run.
Lady madonna, lying on the bed,
Listen to the music playing in your head.
Tuesday afternoon is never ending.
Wednesday morning papers didnt come.
Thursday night you stockings needed mending.
See how they run.
Lady madonna, children at your feet.
Wonder how you manage to make ends meet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK2ybX6FWdE
Thanks. I did run across that theory and others, too, while looking for the song's lyrics on Google. See here and here.
Whatever it means, it's a beautiful piece of popular music. I definitely prefer my ignorance of its meaning to a couple of the meanings attributed to it. Since I refuse to let my pleasure in it be spoiled by a meaning I don't like, my ignorance is bliss.
Mother do you think they'll like this song?
Mother do you think they'll try to break my balls?
Ooh ahh, mother should I build a wall?
Mother should I run for president?
Mother should I trust the government?
Mother will they put me in the firing line?
Ooh ahh, is it just a waste of time?
Hush now baby, baby don't you cry
Mama's gonna make all of your nightmares come true
Mama's gonna put all of her fears into you
Mama's gonna keep you right here under her wing
She won't let you fly but she might let you sing
Mama's gonna keep baby cozy and warm
Ooh babe, ooh babe
Ooh babe, of course mama's gonna help build the wall
Mother do you think she's good enough for me?
Mother do you think she's dangerous to me?
Mother will she tear your little boy apart?
Ooh ahh, mother will she break my heart?
Hush now baby, baby don't you cry
Mama's gonna check out all your girlfriends for you
Mama won't let anyone dirty get through
Mama's gonna wait up until you get in
Mama will always find out where you've been
Mama's gonna keep baby healthy and clean
Ooh babe, ooh babe
Ooh babe, you'll always be a baby to me
Mother did it need to be so high?
Well the telephone is ringing,
Is that my mother on the phone?
Telephone is ringing,
Is that my mother on the phone?
The telephone is screaming,
Won't she leave me alone?
The telephone is ringing,
Is that my mother on the phone?
Well every girl that I go out with
Becomes my mother in the end.
Every girl I go out with
Becomes my mother in the end.
Well I hear my mother calling,
But I don't need her as a friend.
Well every girl I go out with
Becomes my mother in the end.
Oh, Oh mother
Oh mother dear please listen
And don't devour me.
Oh mother dear please listen
Don't devour me.
Oh women please have mercy
Let this poor boy be.
Oh mother dear please listen
And don't devour me.
Oh mother......
Well the telephone is ringing
Is that my mother on the phone?
Telephone is ringing
Is that my mother on the phone?
Oh mother
WELL, I WAS DRUNK THE DAY MY MOMMA GOT OUT OF PRISON
AND I WENT TO PICK HER UP IN THE RAIN
BUT BEFORE I COULD GET TO THE STATION IN MY PICKUP TRUCK
SHE GOT RUNNED OVER BY A DAMNED OLD TRAIN
and there's the waitresses tune about a girl finally learning everthing her mother told her
Needed new posters, so I bought them
I know the cost of stamps now
the thirty-first is when I pay the phone bill
I told them I don't even know anybody in Toronto
Everyday at seven I've been watching Walter
I've been reading more and looking up the hard words
I met people who get me on the guest list
My parents said that they would help me pay for grad school
You know I have never washed a sweater
I never knew when my hair was to long
I got the cab calls out of my hi-fi
I learned a lot since you've been gone
I've done a lot since you've been gone
Not bitter-beat the vicious cycle
Typecast as the model couple
I'm sorry but I don't feel awful
It wasn't the end of the world
I'm sorry I can't be helpless
It wasn't the end of the world
I know someone who really met belushi
I fixed the toilet so it doesn't always run
I moved a chair over by the window
I feel better if my laundry's done
Getting by on less sleep then I used to
I had no trouble setting up a desk
I learned the reason for a three-pronged outlet
I got 100 on my drivers test
I got a trick to get them to deliver
I called the landlord when the water turned brown
Did you know I own some valuable records?
I've done a lot since you've been gone
I've learned a lot since you've been gone
No mad-beat a vicious cycle
Typecast as the model couple
I'm sorry but I dont feel awful
"Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the Sun,
But Mama, that's there the fun is . . ."
-Blinded by the Light