Mother's Day

I feel so lucky every damn day that I have a really special relationship with my mom. For essentially my whole early life, I was a Mama's Girl - my dad's amazing and I have a great relationship with him as well, but he worked weird hours (he was in advertising before he retired) and he also traveled for work a lot, so before my little brother was born it was just the two of us, which really cemented the bond we have today. She set up Beanie Baby safaris for me all around our house. She went from reading her favorite books to me to reading my favorite books herself when I'd recommend them to her. She's been a Dance Mom to me (NOT like the crazy ones on TV, the cool type) and a Wrestling Mom to my brother. Now that I'm an actual adult (gross), she's my best friend.

I've also been blessed to have great relationships with not just my own mom, but my grandmother, my mother-in-law, and my best friends' moms as well. My grandmother is one of the kindest, warmest people you'll ever get to know. My mother-in-law is a kick ass single parent career woman who is a ton of fun to shop with. One of my friend's moms carpooled me around for six years and laughed in British when she found out my mom "censored" my copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire because it said the word "damn." Another friend's mom let us camp out in their movie room once a quarter for, like, seven years and have HUGE movie marathons, all the while feeding us a ton of delicious food. And now, several of my dear friends have become moms themselves and it's become one of my favorite things to watch them grow themselves as moms along with growing their kiddos.

So Moms, this week is for you. As always, this is just a small sampling of a much larger playlist I have, but I think it's a pretty good representation of music honoring what a lot of people would call their Original Leading Lady in their life.

Mother by Danzig (written by G. Danzig)

Let's start things off with a "nice" metal band from the late '80s, Danzig. While the band was infamous for their openly satanic lyrics and image at the beginning of their career, Mother became a huge hit in 1988 and the biggest hit of their career. If you're a mom who likes metal, this track will be for you.

Mother, tell your children not to walk my way/Tell your children not to hear my words/What they mean, what they say/Mother/Mother, can you keep them in the dark for life/Can you hide them from the waiting word/Oh, Mother/Father, gonna take your daughter out tonight/Gonna show her my world/Oh, Father/Not about to see your light/And if you wanna find hell with me/I can show you what it's like/'Til you're bleeding/Not about to see your light/And if you wanna find hell with me/I can show you what it's like

Contraction Ballet by Jessie Mueller & Waitress Original Broadway Ensemble (written by S. Bareilles)

I saw Waitress for the first time two years ago at Fair Park Music Hall in Dallas and I completely fell in love with it. Going into the show knowing exactly nothing about it, getting to watch Jenna's pregnancy journey from her positive test to giving birth was so sweet and genuine. Contraction Ballet is a short instrumental piece that, you guessed it, shows up in Act II when Jenna goes into labor. The mixture of the heartbeat sounds, the controlled breathing from the women onstage, and the piano is really beautiful and I just really love it.

Children Will Listen/Not While I'm Around by Josh Groban (written by S. Sondheim)

Does anyone else's mom love Josh Groban as much as mine does? I mean, I love him, too, because he's amazing, but that's beside the point. This mashup of songs from Sondheim's famous musicals Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street fits together really well - the theme of how your decisions can impact the lives of your children seamlessly turns to one of reassurance that no matter how scary life gets, you'll be there to support them.

Careful the wish you make, wishes are children/Careful the path they take, wishes come true, not free/Careful the spell you cast, not just on children/Sometimes a spell may last past what you can see and turn against you/Careful the tale you tell, that is the spell/Children will listen, listen/Nothing's gonna harm you, not while I'm around/Nothing's gonna harm you, no sir, not while I'm around/Demons are prowling everywhere nowadays/I'll send 'em howling, I don't care, I've got ways/No one's gonna hurt you, no one's gonna dare/Others can desert you, not to worry, whistle, I'll be there/Demons'll charm you wish a smile for a while, but in time/Nothing can harm you, not while I'm around

Pageant Material by Kacey Musgraves (written by K. Musgraves, L. Laird, S. McAnally)

This is one of my favorite Kacey Musgraves songs period. It's on here as a tribute to both the Southern mamas who wanted but didn't get a pageant queen for a daughter as well as any woman who would rather be herself than change to fit someone else's expectations. I'm not sure what my mom would've done if I'd wanted to be a pageant girl - not because she didn't think I had the look for it, but because true to the first verse of this song, I still at 28 years old cannot walk in high heels and it makes her laugh like nobody's business.

There's certain things you're supposed to know when you're a girl who grows up in the South/I try to use my common sense, but my foot always ends up in my mouth/And if I had to walk a runway in high heels in front of the whole town, I'd fall down/And my mama cried when she realized/I ain't pageant material/I'm always higher than my hair, and it ain't that I don't care about world peace/But I don't see how I can fix it in a swimsuit on a stage/I ain't exactly Miss Congenial/Sometimes I talk before I think, I try to fake it but I can't/I'd rather lose for what I am than win for what I ain't

Like My Mother Does by Lauren Alaina (written by L. Rose, N. Chapman, N. Williams)

I quit watching American Idol well before Lauren Alaina came in 2nd place in Season 10, but the songs I've heard of hers I have admittedly enjoyed. You can always count on country music to provide good quality mom-honoring songs, and this one is no exception. Hearing the narrator talk about how she is proud of being compared to different aspects of her mother's personality is very relatable to me personally, because I've been hearing similar things since I was old enough to comprehend speech and my mom's so awesome, it's a wonderful feeling being compared to her in any way.

People always say I have a laugh like my mother does, guess that makes sense/She taught me how to smile when things get rough/I've got her spirit, and she's always got my back/When I look at her, I think, "I wanna be just like that"/When I love, I give it all I've got like my mother does/When I'm scared, I bow my head and pray like my mother does/When I feel weak and unpretty, I know I'm beautiful and strong/Because I see myself like my mother does

Fancy by Reba McEntire (written by B. Gentry)

Bring us the WORD, Reba. This is hands down my favorite Reba song of all time, and one of the very first songs I sang onstage when I started voice lessons as a teenager (problematic? Maybe, but who cares, my mom was at every lesson approving every song choice). Fancy tells the really tragic story of a young girl and her mom's determination to get her out of the shitty situation they were stuck in to save her life, even if it meant having to do things no one would ever wish on their daughter in a rational situation. The narrator's defense of her mother in the final verse of this song is sad and refreshing at the same time: Now in this world, there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites that call me bad, and criticize Mama for turning me out, no matter how little we had. But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothing for nigh on fifteen years, well, I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice ringing in my ears.

I remember it all very well looking back, it was the summer I turned eighteen/We lived in a one-room rundown shack on the outskirts of New Orleans/We didn't have money for food or rent, to say the least, we were hard pressed/Then Mama spent every last penny we had to buy me a dancing dress/Well, Mama washed and combed and curled my hair, and then she painted my eyes and lips/Then I stepped into a satin dancing dress that had a split on the side clean up to my hip/It was red, velvet trimming, and it fit me good/Standing back from the looking glass, there stood a woman where a half-grown kid had stood/She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down/Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down"

My Darling by Wilco (written by J. Bennett, J. Tweedy)

This song by alternative band Wilco is so sweet and simple. My Darling is basically a lullaby to the narrator's child, telling them of how loved they are, how they're a family, and how they'll be with them all night to chase bad dreams and thoughts away. I love the simplicity of the song - nothing super flashy, just the truth of a parent loving their child.

Go back to sleep now, my darling/And I'll keep all the bad dreams away/Breathe now, think sweet things/And I'll think of all the right words to say/Because we made you, my darling/With the love in each of our hearts/We were a family, my darling/Right from the start

Happy early Mother's Day to all of the amazing, hard working, kick ass moms out there. I hope you found some new music to enjoy, and I'll see ya'll next week!