Songs About Mother

May 9, 2021 | Welcome Column

For my money the best song ever written about Mother comes from Hazel Dickens. I like songs that tell a story, and this one about a young lady leaving home for the first time speaks to how a mother can strengthen and guide a child for their whole lifetime:

I thought of all the years she slaved Thought of all the love she gave
She tried to make this run down shack a home A dream that really died ‘fore it was born
But she pulled us through the hardest times And made us hold our head up high
A gift we’d carry with us all our lives For we were so special in Momma’s eyes

As I look back down that dusty road. To Momma and her heavy load
I knew what I was leaving I’d never find again And it was hard to let go of Momma’s hand
One old paper bag full of hand-me-downs 
Plain old country girl raised on gospel sounds
With only the love she gave me, pride in what I am And it was hard to let go of Momma’s hand. My Momma’s hand.

What exactly is a mother? Silly question maybe but think about it. Is it the person who gave you half of your DNA (or in case of a male like me a little more than half)? Or is it the person who raised you and cleaned up after you and nourished you in body and soul? If you’re among the fortunate, one person answers both descriptions, but if I had to put my money on one or the other it would be the latter. Some ambiguity lies in between, as in this Charlie Poole song:

The Marriage rite is over Although I turn aside
And keep the guests from seeing The tears I could not hide
I wreathed my face in smiling And left my little brother
To greet my father’s chosen But I could not call her Mother

A number of songs about Mother concern either the central role mothers play in shaping the moral foundation of a family or sons going off to war or both:

(Red Allen)
While kneeling by her bedside in a cottage on the hill
My mother prayed a blessing on me there
She was talking there to Jesus while everything was still
And I heard my mother call my name in prayer

(Joe Val)
Dear God watch o’er my boy in service Help him win the victory
And when this cruel war is over Send him safely home to me

(Norman Blake)
Tell my mother I will meet her When my works of love and labor all are through
Where the good of earth are gathered with the faithful and the true Tell her that her boy will meet her in the land beyond the blue

And many, many songs I found dealt with our mothers who have passed on:
(Jim & Jesse)
Dear old Mother how I miss you How I long for your sweet face and sunny smile
I would give up all I own just to be with you at home And to linger there for just a little while

(Monroe Brothers)
Shake my mother’s hand and tell her (and then tell her)
Happy may your spirits be (your spirits be)
When the saints come out to meet you (out to meet you)
Oh, shake my mother’s hand for me!

(Ralph Stanley)
I’ll never forget the love mother gave us
As children we’d play around our old home
I know her reward is a mansion in heaven
While her children on earth are scattered and gone

(Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys) Mother’s not dead, she’s only a sleeping
Just patiently waiting for Jesus to come The birds will be singing while Mother is sleeping
They will sing o’er as the grave sinks away

(Mac Wiseman)
I was dreaming of a little cabin when I heard somebody call my name
I looked and saw a sweet old lady and it seemed I was a child again
She gently put her arms around me and kissed her little boy once more
And I knew it was the same sweet mother who had kissed me many times before.

We shouldn’t end on a sad song:
(Seldom Scene with Linda and Emmy Lou)
One day a mother went to a prison To see an erring but precious son
She told the warden how much she loved him It did not matter what he had done
She did not bring (to him) a parole or pardon She brought no silver, no pomp or style (none to see)
It was a halo bright sent down from Heaven’s light The sweetest gift, a mother’s smile

Happy Mother’s Day everybody.

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