If I said it once, I’ve said it a dozen times: My mom didn’t care for what she dismissed as Hallmark holidays. She also, however, didn’t mind getting a card on Mother’s Day from her youngest child. That would be me.

The featured image is of my mom in her Chicago heyday. I didn’t get the glamorous gene. I resemble my father who was once mistaken for Cesar Romero by some gangster. That’s a story for another day, not Mother’s Day.

My mom died 25 years ago, so I’ve never written about Mother’s Day in any detail. I decided that this was the year to do a mother song listicle. Why not? I recently posted lists dedicated to devils and blood, after all. Why not mothers? They’re nicer than devils and not as messy as blood. Holy backhanded compliment, Batman.

The list is in rough chronological order and features mama and mom tunes as well as mother songs. This post was something of a voyage of discovery. I came upon some unfamiliar songs to go along with some old favorites. Let there be rock.

As to the tone of the songs, they’re not gushy or icky sweet. That’s not my jam and it wasn’t my mom’s.

Enough with the preliminaries.

On with the show this is it.

We begin with a relatively obscure early Rolling Stones song, Have You Seen Your Mother, Standing In The Shadow. It’s been tarted up with a video in which Mick Jagger briefly appears in drag.

The sweetest song in the Mother Song dozen was written by Paul McCartney in 1967. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Buddy Guy. His mother. Say no more.

Our next maternal tune was first recorded by Clarence Carter as Tell Daddy. Etta James told daddy to make room for mama.

I know: Merle Haggard wrote Mama Tried and was the first to record it. I saw The Dead play it so many times that’s it now a hippie tune, not an Okie song. Sorry, Merle.

A mother and son song from one of the best albums of the 1970’s.

John Lennon was raised by his mother’s sister who was a rather stern figure who grew tired of Lennon’s stories of his rotten childhood. His Aunt Mimi did the best she could, and John turned out pretty darn well for an allegedly motherless child.

My mama did dance but my daddy didn’t rock and roll so Kenny and Jim got it half right.

It’s time for some sweet Philadelphia soul with a song written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

What would a Mother’s Day listicle be without a rock song celebrating a hot mom? Is it a Jersey thing? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Next up, one of the songs I heard for the first time while researching this piece. It comes from Lita Ford of Runaways fame.

Brandi Carlile is one of our finest contemporary singer-songwriters. She finishes off the dozen with a poignant song about mothering.

What would an Adrastos listicle be without lagniappe? We have irreverent tunes by two great bands: The Mothers and Queen. Hit it, Frank. Hit it, Freddie.

At least Queen didn’t throw momma from the train like in the Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito movie.

The last word goes to Gillian Welch: