Saturday, May 13, 2017

Songs for Mothers


LUCY BURDETTE: With Mother's Day coming tomorrow, who could resist a collection of songs about mothers? I know not everyone had a perfect mother, or was a perfect mother, though sometimes we get lucky with other kinds of mother figures. (More on that tomorrow...)

 Here are three songs that span a range. The first one is a sweet song from three of my favorite women. The second is a cautionary tale from the Stones. And the third is about a different kind of mother--I hope this duo knocks your socks off the way it did mine!



What songs would you add to a Mother's Day playlist? 

 PS Daniele K is the winner of Sherry Harris's A GOOD DAY TO BUY--CONGRATS! Contact Sherry to arrange the drop: sngrad at aol dot com.
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24 comments:

  1. Joan EmersonMay 13, 2017 at 2:18 AM

    These are great songs, Lucy.
    I suspect there are a lot of songs that would be perfect additions to your playlist; I’d add “Mama” by Il Divo . . . .

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    1. Jerry@thecloakanddagger.comMay 13, 2017 at 7:05 PM

      Maybe same song but "Mamma" an Italian classic sung by many but best by Pavarotti and Bocelli

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  2. Grace KoshidaMay 13, 2017 at 6:24 AM

    Great songs, Lucy.
    I would add "Mama's Song" by Carrie Underwood. Her mother and husband are in the video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpFW4Yhy08k

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  3. Hallie EphronMay 13, 2017 at 8:23 AM

    Put out the papers and the trash!
    Or you won't get no spendin' cash...
    If you don't scrub that kitchen floor
    You ain't gonna rock and roll no more
    Yakety yak (don't talk back)
    If you don't scrub that kitchen floor
    You ain't gonnna rock and roll no more!
    Yakety yak! Don't talk back.

    Let's hear it for the Coasters!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xAi80ShG0I

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    1. FintaMay 13, 2017 at 11:16 AM

      This made me giggle and took me back, way back. Thank you Hallie

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    2. Pat DMay 13, 2017 at 2:22 PM

      Oh yeah! And don't talk back!

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  4. Edith MaxwellMay 13, 2017 at 8:35 AM

    Can't think of a single one, but I'll never turn down a chance to listen to those three women sing together! Thanks, Lucy.

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  5. Flora ChurchMay 13, 2017 at 8:51 AM

    Lucy, I am sitting here with tears rolling down my cheeks. Wow! Eric Clapton on stage with Luciano Pavarotti! And Dolly, EmmyLou and Linda--I have CDs of them singing together. My current fave I have no link to--not yet! My youngest nephew has written a song about growing up--and it's based on some sweet, sweet memories! Wishing a glorious Mother's Day to all the Reds and readers!

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  6. Lucy Burdette aka Roberta IsleibMay 13, 2017 at 9:24 AM

    Thanks for all those suggestions Reds! I know, FLora, I stumbled across that clip on video a couple months ago and became obsessed with it. It may be the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Would love to hear your nephew's song some day!

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  7. Karen in OhioMay 13, 2017 at 10:18 AM

    Dolly, EmmyLou and Linda: one of the best voice combos in our lifetimes. The sweetest sound, made poignant by knowing that Linda Ronstadt can no longer sing, thanks to Parkinson's. Sob.

    Hallie, love your choice! What could I possibly add after that?

    Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

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    1. Lucy Burdette aka Roberta IsleibMay 13, 2017 at 10:36 AM

      I know Karen, that's so sad about Linda R. Hate that disease!!

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  8. Gigi NorwoodMay 13, 2017 at 10:23 AM

    I guess this means I'm a bad daughter, but I've been thinking about this since I first read the post around 4 am, and all I've come up with is . . . well, they ARE country classics, but still, I doubt any mother would be happy to have these on her Mother's Day playlist.

    First, of course, is the Ray Wylie Hubbard/Jerry Jeff Walker hit, "Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother," which does give credit to said redneck's mom for raising him to be the way he is, and actually spells out the word "mother," so that's kind of sweet. https://youtu.be/YcBOcwgb4OA

    Then there's the Steve Goodman/David Allan Coe favorite, "You Never Even Called Me By My Name," which mentions Mom in the fourth verse. That would be the verse that begins, "I was drunk the day my mom got out of prison," and gets hilariously worse from there. https://youtu.be/vAOVRkSCWmg

    And, finally, of course, there's the immortal Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried." The mother in that song did her best, God bless her, but her son still "turned 21 in prison doing life without parole." https://youtu.be/UKuc4nfJByc

    Maybe I'd better sleep in on Mother's Day.

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    1. Lucy Burdette aka Roberta IsleibMay 13, 2017 at 10:36 AM

      LOL Gigi, those are not old-fashioned sweet-until-they-gag-you mother's day songs! Country music is the absolute best at making music into stories, isn't it? And my choice of Mother's Little Helper is not exactly treacle either:)

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    2. Gigi NorwoodMay 13, 2017 at 11:47 AM

      I loved all your choices, Lucy/Roberta, and though Mother's Little Helper was an excellent one to include. I have to say, the more I think about songs, though, the more I realize that dad's probably get more than their share of the glory. I'm not sure we've had a lot of lovely new songs about mothers since the days of George M. Cohan and Al Jolson. Although, I suppose, Mrs. Robinson was a mother.

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    3. Pat DMay 13, 2017 at 2:24 PM

      Those are good ones too, Gigi. I sing along with Merle.

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  9. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 13, 2017 at 10:57 AM

    Oh, Roberta, this was so lovely to hear! Thank you! I also welcomed the opportunity to think about mom and songs and me. She drove all us kids crazy with her habit of making everything we said into song lyrics. So if we said for instance, it's too hot--She'd start singing it's too darn hot. Or if we said: I left my homework somewhere, she'd start singing somewhere over the rainbow. It was horrible, we went crazy. And now I do the same thing. And think of her every time I do.

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    1. Lucy Burdette aka Roberta IsleibMay 13, 2017 at 6:13 PM

      that's a wonderful memory Hank--I bet she'd be happy you have that stored away!

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  10. Deborah CrombieMay 13, 2017 at 10:57 AM

    Gigi, those are hysterical. Trust you to come up with them!

    Lucy, love your song choices, especially the Clapton/Pavarotti! I came across that somewhere recently, too, and just loved it.

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  11. Gigi NorwoodMay 13, 2017 at 12:12 PM

    Oh! How could I have forgotten Loretta Lynn's wryly wonderful salute to overworked mothers everywhere: One's On The Way!
    https://youtu.be/yMzSYyjNb74

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  12. Pat DMay 13, 2017 at 2:27 PM

    Oh Lucy. Those are perfect. The first one made me smile. The second one made me laugh. And the third one made me cry. As for the Stones, I was in Savannah maybe ten or more years ago. We were visiting our son who was stationed nearby at Ft Stewart. Anyhoo, Adrian and I were out picking up some beer from the px for a party to happen later. It was Mothers' Day weekend and Mother's Little Helper came on the radio, dedicated to all the moms out there. That cracked me up!

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  13. Ingrid ThoftMay 13, 2017 at 2:39 PM

    This isn't a mother's song exactly, but sometimes my mom or dad would wake me up by coming into my room and singing, "It's time to get up. It's time to get up. It's time to get up this morning." They would do it in a really cheerful voice. It was torture.

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  14. Hank Phillippi RyanMay 13, 2017 at 3:43 PM

    Oh, Ingrid, how awful... :-) . Mine did something like that, too.. xx

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  15. Jenn McKinlayMay 13, 2017 at 7:20 PM

    This is great! My fave mama song is Jo Anna Neel's Daddy was a Preacher but Mama was a Go-go Girl.
    It cracks me up.

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