Top 10 Songs About Mama

There’s nothing more country than mama.  Except mama’s home cooking.  And just about every country singer has released a song about mama.  Here is our Top 10 list of songs about mama:

#10: Mama Don’t Forget To Pray For Me–Diamond Rio’s 1991 hit seemed appropriate for a new band with their first taste of success.  Anyone who has ever left home in search of their dream has had this wish.

#9: Mama Knows–Shenandoah’s lead singer Marty Raybon is countrier than biscuits & gravy, and you can hear them in this 1988 classic.  An ode to women’s intuition.

#8: Hot Mama–For the record, Trace Adkins says his mother doesn’t like this song.  But his wife does, and that’s what this song is about.  She also identifies with “Ladies Love Country Boys.”  There are lots of similar songs, including the Brooks & Dunn hit called “Mama Don’t Get Dressed Up For Nothin.’”

#7: Mama He’s Crazy–Who better to sing this song than country’s top mother-daughter duo.  When Wynonna sings the verses, her mother Naomi just shakes her head.  Wynonna was 20 years old in 1984 when this song became their first #1.

#6: The Baby–Blake Shelton didn’t write this song, but he is the baby of his family.  He left home for Nashville right out of high school, but his mother is still very much alive.  Still, the drama of this song helped it to become his second #1 in 2003.

#5: Coat Of Many Colors–Dolly Parton swears this is a true story about the quilted coat her mother made for her.  I’m not about to question Dolly.  The coat itself is on display at Dollywood.

#4: Mama’s Song–Carrie Underwood actually has a couple of “mama” songs.  The first was her second single “Don’t Forget To Remember Me,”  which is similar to the Diamond Rio hit at #10.  Carrie wrote this song after she met Mike Fisher.  It was released as a single two months after they were married.

#3: In My Daughter’s Eyes–Martina McBride recorded a song from the mother’s point of view.  At the time, Martina had two daughters.  Her third, Ava, was born in 2005.  Martina didn’t write this song.  The writer, James T. Slater, was a childless bachelor at the time who wrote the song for his brother.

#2: Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys–Even mama has a sense of humor.  Waylon & Willie had a #1 with it in 1978.  But it was written by the husband & wife team of Ed & Patsy Bruce.    By the way, Ed Bruce is Trace Adkins favorite country singer.

#1: Mama Tried–Merle Haggard wrote it from his own life.  He actually did turn 21 in prison in 1957, although he wasn’t sentenced to life without parole.  His longest term was three years, and in 1972, he was granted a full pardon by President Richard Nixon.

As we said, this isn’t a complete list.  There is Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart.”  We almost included “Papa Loves Mama” by Garth Brooks, but it was just too dysfunctional.  Kellie Pickler wrote a couple of songs based on her mother, who abandoned her as a child.  “I Wonder” was released as a single in 2007.  But the more poignant song is appropriately titled “Mother’s Day,” and is on her 100 Proof CD.  Reba McEntire recorded a number of songs about mothers, including “Fancy” and “Is There Life Out There.”

 

Category: Top 10