Motherhood

As an institution, motherhood is tough to top — after all, who among us would be here without it? That’s probably why so many songs seem fitting for the first and most important lady in everyone’s life. The original jazz diva, Billie Holiday, never had kids of her own, but she still spoke for mothers everywhere when she crooned “God Bless the Child.” Joni Mitchell set the scene for any mother who ever watched her children find their way in the world, with the growing-pains ballad “The Circle Game.” And Helen Reddy may be most famous for declaring “I Am Woman,” but that same source of feminine strength comes through in her mother-daughter hit “You and Me Against the World.”

A killer country salute to motherhood awaits you in Next Steps.

Mothers are as crucial to country music as drinking, cheating, and pickup trucks, so it should come as no surprise that some of Nashville’s finest turn up to tip their ten-gallon hats to motherhood here. Of course, being a mother’s not always easy, and nobody knows it better than honky-tonk hero Merle Haggard, who had a tough time sticking to the straight-and-narrow no matter how hard his “Mama Tried.” Jamie O’Neal knows that even if the woman who makes the world safe for her kids every day doesn’t get the admiration of the whole world, she’s always “Somebody’s Hero.” And Lonestar flips the script a bit, sending out a salute to the all the guys who are ambitious enough to take on the role of “Mr. Mom.”

In Deep Cuts, discover songs for moms that come from some surprising sources.

There are songs you’ve known and loved for years, but you probably never connected them with motherhood before. For instance, Carole King and her then-husband Gerry Goffin originally meant Aretha Franklin’s stone-cold-classic soul ballad “(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman” as a romantic tune, but it speaks just as strong to the bond between mothers and children. Another great ’60s songwriting team, Bacharach & David, probably intended the Dionne Warwick hit “Reach Out for Me” as a man-woman message, but it sure hits home as a parent’s patient promise. And the fact that head Pretender Chrissie Hynde had a baby with Kinks leader Ray Davies just before releasing “Show Me” makes a strong case for the song as a new-mama’s revelation.

You know, Mother’s Day isn’t the only time when we can celebrate the magic of maternity. Here are 75 surefire ways to keep motherhood in mind 365 days a year. Even if you’re not one, you’ve got one, and you know they don’t call it the world’s hardest job for nothing. That’s why we’ve reached into the realms of rock, soul, pop, country, and more, gathering songs that cover every aspect of momdom. Whether it’s a tune that’s aimed straight at parenthood, like Martina Bride’s “In My Daughter’s Eyes,” or simply a song that resonates well with the mama vibe, like Cyndi Lauper’s “True Colors,” these are the tracks that cut straight to the heart of what it really means to be a mother.