This list of country songs about mothers includes some of the most popular artists in country music – from Carrie Underwood to Merle Haggard – honoring the woman who brought them into this world.
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While there are different ways you can show your love and gratitude to your mother, these country mom songs will set the stage to perfection. Check it out below.
1. “Mama’s Song” by Carrie Underwood
After meeting the love of her life, Carrie Underwood co-wrote the sentimental country ballad “Mama’s Song.” It was the country superstar’s way of saying goodbye to her first love and the woman who raised her – her mother.
Underwood talks to her mother in the song, telling her not to worry as she goes to begin a new life with her husband. She comforts her mother with the fact that he’s a good man who will take care of her.
It was released in November 2010 as the final single off her album, Play On, just a few months after she married hockey player Mike Fisher. It also comes with a music video, which makes the song even more emotional, as it features Underwood’s mother, Carole, and her husband, Fisher.
2. “Mom” by Garth Brooks
This list of country songs about moms would be nothing without this heartwarming ballad by Garth Brooks. But what most people don’t know was that Brooks was actually not the first to record “Mom.” Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler originally recorded it in 2013 before Brooks covered the song and released it as the second single for his 2014 album Man Against Machine.
When Brooks debuted the song during an appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, the whole music community couldn’t stop talking about it.
“It should’ve been written 50 years ago,” Brooks said about the song. “It’s a conversation between God and this unborn child about ready to go down to Earth, and when God describes what a mom is, whew, it kills me.”
3. “Coat of Many Colors” by Dolly Parton
In 1969, Dolly Parton wrote the song on a tour bus. And since there was no piece of paper available, she jotted down her thoughts on the back of a dry-cleaning receipt.
Released in 1971 as the second single from the album of the same name, “Coat of Many Colors” tells the tale of how Parton’s mother would stitch together a coat for her daughter using rags given to them.
4. “IOU” by Jimmy Dean
In 1976, Jimmy Dean wrote and recorded “IOU” to pay homage to all the mothers and their journey as mothers.
The song tells the tale of a young man who reflects on a number of roles his mother played throughout the years, such as becoming a nurse, doctor, cook, entertainer, and just by simply being the rock that held the family together.
For You
As the song ends, the boy admits that while the payment for her mother’s services over the years is long past due, he knew that any such wish to make a payment would be noted: “paid in full.”
5. “Angels” by Randy Travis
You might not think of Randy Travis’ “Angels” to be a song about mothers the first time you’ll listen to it.
It begins with a group of friends expressing how tragic the September 11 attack was. Their discussion led to some of the friends questioning if angels exist on Earth.
One man spoke up and stated he had not seen one, to which the narrator jumps in, “Are you telling me that you’ve never seen an angel? Never felt the presence of one standing by? No robe of white No halo in sight Well, you missed the most obvious thing Man, are you blind? Just look in your mothers’ eyes.”
6. “Somebody’s Hero” by Jamie O’Neal
Jamie O’Neal paid tribute to other women like herself who do their best in balancing career and family in “Somebody’s Hero.” The song illustrates how kids of any age appreciate and regard their mothers as heroes in their lives.
When the country singer gave birth to her daughter, O’Neal revealed that she started seeing mothers’ roles in a whole new light. In fact, she wrote on the CD cover for the single, “When you have a baby, you start thinking about your own relationship with your mother, and when you were little, how much you looked up to her.”
7. “Mama Tried” by Merle Haggard
While Merle Haggard was put in prison in 1957 in San Quentin, serving three years on a robbery conviction, he looked into the grief and misery he caused on his own mother.
He wrote the song telling the story of how his mother did her best to keep him out of trouble. “Mama Tried” turned out to be the foundation of his career, earning the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.
8. “Mama Sang a Song” by Bill Anderson
Bill Anderson’s “Mama Sang a Song” is an emotional recollection of a sharecropper’s early years, especially about his mother. He would recall that even though his family grew up dirt poor, love always reigned in the household.
9. “I’m a Survivor” by Reba McEntire
“I’m a Survivor” was released as the first single off Reba McEntire’s 2001 Greatest Hits Volume III: I’m a Survivor. The song follows the story of a woman who was born prematurely and went on to become a single mother.
10. “No Charge” by Melba Montgomery
Melba Montgomery’s “No Charge” tells the tale of a young boy who handed an itemized list of charges to his mother composed of various chores he has performed. He has now come to collect the payment from his mother, who responded by reminding him about all she’s done for him, which she did not ask him to pay. Indeed, “the cost of real love is no charge.”
So, which among these country songs about mothers are you going to dedicate to your mom?
