Mama Tried: A Mother's Day Playlist

Where would we be without our mothers? Ummm... nowhere. So even though mothers come in all forms, from the highest quality (such as the kind the Gray boys are blessed with) to the absentee variety to the just plain crazy, you've got to at least remember that they're the reason you even exist at all.

Here are some selected songs to get you in a proper Mother's Day state of mind, hopefully get those creative juices flowing to make this Sunday as special as you can for the first lady in your life, whatever kind of mother she may be.

Merle Haggard, "Mama Tried": We jump to blame the parents when a child misbehaves, but sometimes Mom does the best she can, but through no fault of hers, the kid is simply a little bastard. Merle can explain better than we can.

2pac, "Dear Mama": In the "Mama Tried" of gangsta rap, 2pac denounces his formerly stubborn, youthful attitudes while treating his mother to the highest order of praise: "Even as a crack fiend, Mama, you always was a black queen," he emotes, sincerely. Warms the heart, doesn't it? We're sure Mama took it in the generous spirit it was intended, considering her cameo at the beginning of the video.

Tracy Bonham, "Mother Mother": One-upping Alanis in the mid-'90's screamy-girl-angst contest, Tracy Bonham reminds us that it's not just parents who suffer from empty nest syndrome. Even so, all her little-lost-girl suffering still seems preferable to admitting defeat and boomeranging back home.

Southern Culture on the Skids, "Daddy Was a Preacher, Mama Was a Go-Go Girl": Sometimes you get the unlikely couple who hook up despite wildly different personalities which, in the end, actually turn out to complement each other. It's all the lamest, most difficult to believe romantic-comedy clichés come to life! That's right; some of you out there are living Dharma & Greg: The Later Years. You know what they say: truth is dumber than fiction.

Danzig, "Mother": In this song, Danzig extends the olive branch of truce between metalheads and Reagan-era metalphobic mothers, even offering up a joint headbanging session "'til you're bleeding," an invitation he didn't send out to just anyone. Bonus: in this more radio-friendly offering from the usually scarier, more intense Danzig, you can find out what it would sound like if Jim Morrisson had ever sang for AC/DC.

John Lennon, "Mother": John Lennon's mother was killed by an off-duty policeman - and drunk driver - when he was 17. He wrote this song, among others, in tribute. For those of you whose mothers aren't around anymore.

For those and six more songs about mom, visit Rocks Off's YouTube Mother's Day playlist here.