Famous musos have their mums to thank for serious inspo ahead of Mother’s Day
From Elvis to Spice Girls, Taylor Swift to Tupac, almost every artist over the decades has been inspired to profess their love for their mamas or motherhood in song.
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From Elvis to Spice Girls, Taylor Swift to Tupac, almost every artist over the decades has been inspired to profess their love for their mamas or motherhood in song.
Australian pop royalty Missy Higgins celebrated Mother’s Day last year by sharing Song For Sammy, a tune written when he was a baby and started as a melody she hummed as she did laps around the room, rocking him back and forth to sleep.
“It’s a song about the crazy extreme emotions that come with being a parent for the first time. The feeling that you would do anything for this kid, which is at once exhilarating and terrifying,” she posted to her fans. “Suddenly your heart is ripped open and exposed to all the elements. Vulnerable but so, so alive. Exhausted but drunk on love.”
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“Acutely aware of all the children in the world and how that is, actually, every single goddamn person. How every man is somebody’s son, every woman is somebody’s daughter. And how realising that, changes everything.”
We will have to wait and see if she makes good on her promise to pen a tune inspired by her daughter Luna but in the meantime, Higgins has shared her favourite songs inspired by motherhood.
Brandi Carlisle – The Mother
I bawled my eyes out when I first heard this song. She just sums up motherhood perfectly – something that completely obliterates your life and everything you knew before, and suddenly nothing has ever been so important.
Lauryn Hill – Zion
This song was from my favourite album all through school. For a long time I didn’t realise Zion was her son, but when it clicked the whole song fell into place. Like all of Lauren’s songs, there’s a dark side to the lyrics, she talks of how people tried to convince her to get an abortion because it would ruin her career, but she didn’t listen.
Sade – The Sweetest Gift
This is another album I grew up listening to. This is a gorgeous song about Sade’s little daughter.
Alicia Keys – Speechless
Apparently Alicia hadn’t written anything for ages while she was pregnant and after the birth of her first child. Then out of nowhere she wrote this song, about how hard it is to find the words to express how she feels when she looks at him, that the love is overwhelming. I can relate to this, and also how hard it is to write once you have kids!
The McClymonts
Between them, the country superstar siblings have six children. Brooke’s daughter Tiggy and she and husband Adam Eckersley welcomed son Elroy in January.
Sister Mollie has a four-year-old Ned and two-year-old daughter Elky while Sam is mum to sons 14-month-old Ari and two-year-old Wilder.
Their latest single I Got This, is a country pop bop all about the challenges of being a mum while their upcoming album Madness To Mayhem will continue that theme.
Sam said the sisters wrote as an anthem for motherhood.
“(Mothers) constantly feel like we are carrying everything on our shoulders from the kids, to career, to the household and no matter how much is thrown at us we always seem to rise above it and keep pushing on,” she says.
“It’s a reminder to ourselves that no matter what I Got This.”
Brooke nominated Dolly Parton’s Coat Of Many Colours as one of her favourites, dedicating it to their mother Toni.
“Dolly Parton was my idol growing up. I loved the way she spoke of how beautiful her mum was for making the coat for her as they had little to no money. It is a true reflection of what mothers will do for their children,” she says.
“They will do anything, and our mum is exactly the same. While she couldn’t knit us a jumper, she supported us 110 per cent in whatever we wanted to do and she most definitely got us to where we are today.
“We couldn’t have done it without her, she’s our coat of many colours.”
Mollie chose Mother by Kacey Musgraves because it’s “about missing your mother because you don’t live near her”. “This is the case with my mum and I. I don’t live near her, but am always thinking of her and missing her. Love you Mum,” she says.
Vika and Linda Bull
The revered Melbourne musical treasures, Vika and Linda Bull, who have entertained audiences for decades with their golden harmonies and platinum stage presence, started having their families around the same time.
Despite the sexist cautions from men in the music business that motherhood would kill their careers, they have not only survived but thrived and will celebrate with the release of their Anthology collection in June, curating their most-loved songs from the Black Sorrows, Paul Kelly and solo works.
“People were telling us it was a big risk to stop and have children,” Linda recalls. “I remember Vika saying ‘Stuff that!’”
Vika adds: “We took some time off and then we made it work. Mum and dad would go on tour with us, we would have the extended family on the road. Dad could drink beer with the boys; he loved the after parties.”
The pair have become online stars with their COVID-19 Sunday Sing Song over the past eight weeks with Iso City Limits, their adaptation of the Tina Turner classic, getting 104,000 shares and more than 5.2 million views.
Vika would sing the standard You Are My Sunshine to her daughter Mafi. “I changed the words. She was a little punk so I would sing ‘You are my storm cloud’ and she thought that was great. ‘Sing storm cloud, mummy!’” Vika says.
Linda nominates The Beatles’ Let It Be as a tribute to mothers and doesn’t mind rocking out to Lenny Kravitz’s Always On The Run for its motherly advice.
“I reckon those songs are hard to write; I’ve always been adverse to writing a song about my kids. It’s tricky because they are going to hear it and that’s tricky. Hats off to anyone who does.”
Mother’s Day playlist
If you want to check out what songs swell the heart of Tina Arena on the annual celebration of mums, check out her Mother’s Day show on Foxtel’s Smooth at 10am and 4pm on Sunday.
The beloved entertainer, who has been getting her iso-groove on with her Quarantina sessions on IGTV, will share some ripper tunes from Kelly Clarkson, Whitney Houston and Adele and her own insights on what she loves about being a mum to son Gabriel.
And try these if you need inspiration for a soundtrack to accompany your Mother’s Day.
1. A Song For Mama, Boyz II Men
2. Mama, Spice Girls
3. The Best Day, Taylor Swift
4. The Wish, Bruce Springsteen
5. Mama Liked The Roses, Elvis Presley
6. Little Little, Jenny Morris
7. Superwoman, Alicia Keys
8. Look What You’ve Done, Drake
9. Every Day My Mother’s Voice, Paul Kelly and Dan Sultan
10. Where You Lead, Carole King.
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