As likely expected, I'm going to make this week's mix a Mother's Day mix - a mix that I had to think about for a bit. The reason I had to think harder about it was because I really didn't just want to find as many songs as I could that mention mothers (not to mention I only have a handful that actually do). Then I contemplated making a mix that would include music my mother liked, but posting several Boyzone tracks, some Neil Diamond, and Christian contemporary music seemed like a bit too far of a departure for this blog. Ultimately, I decided to go for a few songs that mentioned mothers and then a bunch of songs that were gentle and lullaby-like. A few of the tracks are purely instrumental. All in all, these songs are warm and comforting - just like my mother is.
My mother has countless idiosyncrasies, one of which is a bizarre mixing up of adages or metaphors, more often than not with humorous results (my mother is usually the one that finds it the most amusing and kills herself laughing). For example, she might say "I'll kill one bird with two stones" (that's one very dead bird) or call Toronto "just another pin in the pincushion" (I'm still a tad befuddled about that one). Pronounciation is another difficulty for her sometimes - so don't ever ask her to say "Boyzone" quickly because you'll end up with something closer to "Buzzoon." She likes to check to make sure the front door is locked about a dozen times before she goes to bed, and as a favourite snack, she dumps salted peanuts into a glass of Coke. And her snores could quickly erode the foundations of houses.
Regardless of the many arguments my mother and I have had, and despite the fact our personalities are pretty dissimilar, and even though I've had my childhood moments of fear of her wrath, I'm hugely thankful that I have her. I know she's sacrificed a lot for my sister and me, and I know that she worries far more than she should. She's always gone above and beyond the call of motherhood for us, comforting us, encouraging us, and defending us. While our interest in music diverges completely (my mother hates coming to record shops with me, but highly enjoys watching American Idol), she's the one who stood dutifully in line for Arcade Fire tickets when I had to be elsewhere. And she's probably the only mother in the city who made sure she knows who Freddie Mercury, Richey Edwards, and Morrissey are for her daughter's sake. She may sometimes think Morrissey is dead, that Freddie Mercury disappeared and that Richey Edwards sang in The Smiths, but I appreciate the effort, and I love her all the more for it. I'm going to call this mix For Audrey.
Daughter Like Mother - Nathan Larson
23 - Blonde Redhead
Song to the Siren - This Mortal Coil
Lush (What Becomes You) - Soundpool
Apres l'orage - Peppermoon
Skating - Melys
Mother Stands For Comfort - Kate Bush
Frou Frou Foxes in Midsummer Fires - Cocteau Twins
Chinaberry Tree - Mew
Surfing on a Rocket - Air
Over Over - Dejesus
Are Mothers Saints - Manic Street Preachers
Sun Dew - Fern Knight
Heaven is Inside You - I Monster
Scattered Blacks and Whites - Elbow
Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros
Yoga Means Union - Ambulance Ltd
Mansfield and Cyclops - Espers
1 comment:
that is one of the loveliest tributes to someone's mother i have ever read. it's honest and sincere and it's obvious you really love her, no matter what your differences. as a mom myself, i can only hope for the same from my own kids. : )
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