Sadly, most songs about or referencing mothers or mamas or moms are not always the most sentimental or forgiving, and I apologize for that. Still, I think I managed to find a decent balance. Sure, it was difficult to narrow it down so that only one track mentions a desire to kill a mother and have sex with her corpse, but somehow I did.
I've previously mentioned my former Scrawl obsession, and this song is the one that really sealed the deal for me. I was so excited to learn that it's been covered, and I think this version adds a new dimension to it. The original, obviously, delivers the same message lyrically, but does so with a jaded tone I so related to at the time I first heard it. Not that the delivery can't be bitter AND sentimental, of course, but this cover makes me feel sadder for the mother than the protagonist, and the original does the opposite.
John Lennon loved his mom. When he wrote this, anyhow.
As you might imagine, it gets pretty screamy at the end. Be prepared to turn the volume down a bit unless you're into that.
Speaking of mothers and Merle Haggard, when I was about 8-10 years old, my mother took me to a Merle Haggard concert at the Holiday Star Plaza. During the intermission (weird that there was an intermission at a concert), an old woman passed out on the floor and started vomiting, which mildly traumatized me. I could think of nothing else for the duration of the show. Not even during "Okie from Muskogee."
I'm not a big reggae fan, which is a shame considering the multitudes of reggae covers that exist. This track, however, makes me very happy.
Sometimes mothers are right, kid.
The aforementioned sexist, matricidal, necrophiliac Mother's Day classic.
2 comments:
What, no Japanese/Swedish/ska version of "Mama, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys"? I'm brokenhearted....
Mother and Child Reunion isn't actually anything to do with mothers you know...its about a Chinese meal that contains both chicken and egg! Just thought I'd let you know :o)
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