Country Quizzin’: Mama Songs
May 6, 2009
UPDATED
Good times!
10 – Andrew
8.25 - pselby
8 - J.R. Journey, Aaron
Y’all come back now, you hear? And happy early Mother’s Day!
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In honor of Mother’s Day this coming Sunday, here’s a short little quiz about Mama songs. I hope it’s not too difficult – we shall see.
Same rules: don’t cheat, and everyone’s comments but yours are invisible until 10:30 EST, at which point I’ll also reveal the answers and scores, plus a totally rad playlist of the songs featured here!
Best of luck!
For each lyrical excerpt, please identify the artist or songwriter(s). As always, I will look favorably upon any and all absurd wild guesses because this is a learning opportunity, gosh darn it.
1. Mama whispered softly / Time will ease your pain / Life’s about changing / Nothing ever stays the same /And she said, “How can I help you to say goodbye”
Patty Loveless
2. “My winnings I gave to a newsboy / I knew I was wrong from the start / And I’ll ne’er forget that promise / To Mother, the queen of my heart”
Jimmie Rodgers
3. “And I love you for giving me your eyes / Staying back and watching me shine / And I didn’t know if you knew / So I’m taking this chance to say / That I had the best day with you today”
Taylor Swift
4. “She tried to turn me on to Jesus / But I turned on to the Devil’s ways / And I turned out to be the only hell my mama ever raised”
Johnny Paycheck
5. “Mama knows, Mama knows / Somehow I think she’s got a window to my soul”
Shenandoah
6. “She’s somebody’s hero / A hero to her mother in a rockin’ chair / She runs a brush through her silver hair”
Jamie O’Neal
7. “I’ve just been to heaven with someone so true / I dreamed about Mama last night / She read me the Bible like she used to do / I dreamed about Mama last night”
Hank Williams as Luke the Drifter or Hank Jr.
8. “I’ve got my Mama’s Eyes / Her long, thin frame and her smile / And I still see wrong from right / ‘Cause I’ve got my Mama’s Eyes”
Justin Townes Earle
9. “But here in Topeka the rain is a fallin’ / The faucet is a drippin’ and the kids are a ballin’ / One of ‘em a toddlin’ and one is a crawlin’ and / One’s on the way”
Loretta Lynn
10. “And when you get the choice / To sit it out or dance / I hope you dance”
Lee Ann Womack
Category: Country Quizzin'
Tags: Hank Williams, Jamie O'Neal, Jimmie Rodgers, Johnny Paycheck, Lee Ann Womack, Loretta Lynn, Patty Loveless, Shenandoah, Taylor Swift
19 Comments so far
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1. Patty Loveless, I was a kid and we moved the same year this song came out. I haven’t got divorced yet, but there’s still time.
2. Fortunately, this song doesn’t have any comments about the Queen still being in England or the King still being in Spain, a la Hank Jr’s Queen of My Heart. Unfortunately that means I don’t know who sings it. I’ll guess George Jones.
3. If it was a father’s day list it’d be George Strait. And if a frog had a glass behind he would n’t hop but once.
4. A bunch of people have done this one. I’m pretty sure that Merle Haggard did it.
5. Shenandoah, i think. “Even when I think it doesn’t show, mama knows.”
6. This one I should know, but I don’t. Lee Ann Rimes? You can’t make fun of someone taking care of their aging mother.
7. Johnny Cash? Bad week for me, not just because I’m doing poorly on the quiz. I dreamed about my mama last night ans she told me to eat my vegetables.
8. The no-so-good thing about having your mama’s eyes is the early onset of macular degeneration. Dolly Parton?
9. Sounds like a Tom T. Hall lyric, so that’s my guess.
10. Leeann Womack. I am thankful that even with the success of this song, she has steered back toward the traditional.
Some other’s that I would have known:
Jesus & Mama – Confederate Railroad
Mama Tried – Merle Haggard
Angels – Randy Travis
Mama n’ Them – David Lee Murphy
Mama He’s Crazy – The Judds
01. Patty Loveless
02. Johnny Cash
03. The Statler Brothers
04. John Anderson
05. Shenandoah
06. Jamie O’Neal
07. Forrester Sisters
08. Merle Haggard
09. Loretta Lynn
10. Lee Ann Womack
[...] In honor of Mother’s Day, Country Universe’s Dan Milliken put together a special quiz ab… [...]
1. Patty Loveless
2. I’m not sure of the original, but Jerry Lee Lewis did a cover.
3. Taylor Swift
4. Johnny Paycheck
5. Shenandoah
6. Jamie O’Neal
7. Hank Williams (as Luke the Drifter)
8. Justin Townes Earle
9. Loretta Lynn
10. Lee Ann Womack
1. Patty Loveless
2. Chuck Wicks
3. Chuck Wicks
4. Merle Haggard
5. Shenandoah
6. Chuck Wicks
7. Johnny Cash
8. Justin Townes Earle
9. Loretta Lynn
10. Lee Ann Womack
11. Chuck Wicks
1. Patty Loveless
2. Hank Williams?
3. Don’t know
4. Johnny Paycheck
5. Shenandoah
6. ?
7. Can’t remember
8. Justin Townes Earle
9. Loretta Lynn
10. Lee Ann Womack
1. Patty Loveless
2.
3. Taylor Swift
4. Johnny Paycheck
5. Shenandoah
6. Jamie O’Neil
7. Hank Williams
8.
9. Loretta Lynn
10. Lee Ann Womack
3. I’m gonna guess Goerge Strait or Taylor Swift, because if I recall correctly, they both have a song called The Best Day.
5. Jamie O’Neal
10. LeeAnn Womack
And oops, I spelt George wrong.
1. Patty Loveless
2. Gloriana
3. Taylor Swift
4. The Carter Twins
5. Kellie Pickler
6. Jamie O’Neal
7. Gloriana
8. Gloriana
9. Gloriana
10. Lee Ann Womack
That’s all I got. The 4 I knew are some of my favorite songs, though. Especially the Loveless track!
1. Patty Loveless
2. Total guess – Roy Acuff?
3. Hey, I have a nine year old daughter whose iPod I have to load – that is Taylor Swift
4. Johnny Paycheck
5. Shenandoah
6. Jamie O’Neal
7. Hank Williams (was it in his Luke The Drifter persona?)
8. I’m not sure, but I believe that was Jeffrey Dahmer’s debut single….(I’m so sorry…..).
9. Loretta Lynn
10. Lee Ann Womack
I haven’t participated in a while, so here goes …
1. Patty Loveless
2. (sounds familiar)
3. Taylor Swift
4. Waylon Jennings
5. Shenandoah (good song)
6. Jamie O’Neal
7. Hank Williams Jr.
8. Justin Townes Earle
9. Loretta Lynn
10. Lee Ann Womack
1. Mama whispered softly / Time will ease your pain / Life’s about changing / Nothing ever stays the same /And she said, “How can I help you to say goodbye”
Patty Loveless
2. “My winnings I gave to a newsboy / I knew I was wrong from the start / And I’ll ne’er forget that promise / To Mother, the queen of my heart”
JImmy Rodgers
3. “And I love you for giving me your eyes / Staying back and watching me shine / And I didn’t know if you knew / So I’m taking this chance to say / That I had the best day with you today”
Taylor Swift? (sorry you can’t avoid her these days)
4. “She tried to turn me on to Jesus / But I turned on to the Devil’s ways / And I turned out to be the only hell my mama ever raised”
Johnny Paycheck
5. “Mama knows, Mama knows / Somehow I think she’s got a window to my soul”
Shenandoah
6. “She’s somebody’s hero / A hero to her mother in a rockin’ chair / She runs a brush through her silver hair”
Jamie O’Neal
7. “I’ve just been to heaven with someone so true / I dreamed about Mama last night / She read me the Bible like she used to do / I dreamed about Mama last night”
Hank Williams
8. “I’ve got my Mama’s Eyes / Her long, thin frame and her smile / And I still see wrong from right / ‘Cause I’ve got my Mama’s Eyes”
??
9. “But here in Topeka the rain is a fallin’ / The faucet is a drippin’ and the kids are a ballin’ / One of ‘em a toddlin’ and one is a crawlin’ and / One’s on the way”
Loretta Lynn
10. “And when you get the choice / To sit it out or dance / I hope you dance“
Lee Ann Womack
i wasnt online at all yesterday. I just forgot…I would’ve known all but a few of these.
That Justin Townes Earle Song is my new favorite song for Mom.
You know, I’m pretty hard on Taylor 98% of the time, but my friend made me listen to “The Best Day” a couple of months ago and it REALLY struck a chord. It’s a very touching song, and I have to give her props for capturing that sentiment so simply and beautifully.
I’m not sure of the original, but Jerry Lee Lewis did a cover…
Happy Mother’s Day to all.’“
Elvis Presley–”Mama Liked The Roses”
“Mama liked the roses
In such a special way
We bring them every Mother’s Day
And put them over her grave.”
This was the B-side to “The Wonder Of You”, a #9 pop/#1 AC hit for the King in June 1970.