10 sweet songs to make mommies cry

Glory by Jay Z 

Approximately 5 seconds after daughter Blue Ivy Carter was born, Jay Z released this track featuring the sounds of his newborn baby crying, and heartrending lyrics. \”The most amazing feeling I feel/Words can’t describe the feeling for real/Baby I paint the sky blue/My greatest creation was you, you\” he sings with genuine emotion about \”the most beautifulest thing in this world.\” And we all cry.

Kooks by David Bowie 

Written to newborn Duncan (a.k.a. Zowie) Jones, on this deep track on his album Hunky Dory, Bowie promises \”we believe in you,\” and tots up a list of what he did to prepare for his much-anticipated son: \”We bought a lot of things to keep you warm and dry/And a funny old crib on which the paint won\’t dry/I bought you a pair of shoes a trumpet you can blow and a book of rules/On what to say to people when they pick on you/\’Cause if you stay with us you\’re going to be pretty kookie too.\” What a beautiful way to say welcome to our crazy family, kid.

Never Grow Up by Taylor Swift 

Hey, how did a teenager write delicate lyrics like \”Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room/Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home/Remember the footsteps, remember the words said/And all your little brother\’s favorite songs/I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone.\” The focus in Taylor Swift\’s lovely song Never Grow Up shifts from parent to child and it makes me weep every time I hear it.

Parents Just Don’t Understand by DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince 

Middle-aged parents may have heard this 1988 classic at the prom. If it\’s been awhile, pick up your car phone to perpetrate like you\’re talking and put this on to remind yourself not to stay stuff like \”You go to school to learn, not for a fashion show.\”

Landslide by Fleetwood Mac 

First released on Fleetwood Mac\’s self-titled 1975 album, after the band had just absorbed Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, Nicks sings \”Well, I\’ve been afraid of changing/\’Cause I\’ve built my life around you/But time makes you bolder/Children get older I\’m getting older too.\”

Two Sisters by the Kinks 

When this song was written, lead singer Ray Davies was rather jealously watching brother and band member Dave Davies enjoying the fruits of bachelorhood, while Ray was tied down with a wife and kids. But maybe it wasn\’t all bad. Ray sings \”Percilla looked into the frying pan/And the bacon and eggs. And the breakfast is served. She was so jealous of her sister\” only to conclude later in the song \”Percilla saw her little children. And then decided she was better off. Than the wayward lass that her sister had been.\” There were rewards to domesticity, even in the sixties.

I’ve Never Been to Me by Charlene 

\”Hey, you know what paradise is?\” Charlene asks the \”discontented mother\” she\’s addressing in her one-hit wonder. \”It\’s a lie, a fantasy we create about people and places as we\’d like them to be. But you know what truth is? It\’s that little baby you\’re holding, it\’s that man you fought with this morning. The same one you\’re going to make love with tonight. That\’s truth, that\’s love.\” Yeah, all right, Charlene, it\’s just that you made getting undressed by kings and sipping Champagne on a yacht sound so fun.

Sunrise, Sunset from the Fiddler on the Roof Soundtrack 

\”Is this the little girl I carried?\” asks Tevye. \”I don\’t remember growing older,\” she responds. \”When did they?\” Tears! Streaming!

Teach Your Children by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 

Another song where the focus goes from the parent to the child, telling parents to \”feed them on your dreams, the one they picked\” and explaining children can\’t know \”the fears your elders grew by.\”

Wraith Pinned to the Mist by Of Montreal  

\”Maybe I\’ll never die, I\’ll just keep growing younger with you,\” sings Of Montreal lead singer Kevin Barnes feelingly about new daughter Alabee on the band\’s album The Sunlandic Twins. \”It seems to lovely to be true. But I know the best things always do.\”